Dragons, Wardens and Warriors - Oh My!
by LuckyFractal
Summary: Never trust strange Gnomes offering Portals. It always ends in disaster. Unfortunately for a particular Draenei Warrior, no one mentioned that to her. Join her as she joins up with a racist Dalish, an introverted mage with a staggering potential for Ice magic, a group of very familiar companions and the poor city elf Warden who has to lead them. WoW-DAO with a smattering of Frozen.
1. Oh Light, where am I now?

Never again.

NEVER. AGAIN.

Lanaura rarely took vows. She had only ever done so twice in her life. First, the vow she took upon joining the Alliance to uphold and forward its cause and protect its people in whatever ways she could. The other, never eat day old chicken.

A week bedridden with explosive diarrhoea does that to you.

Now, Lanaura could say without the shadow of a doubt she would be adding a third point to her list.

Never, EVER, take a portal from someone she didn't know.

It had been such a great day too.

* * *

"Looking for Portal to Dalaran! Paying ten gold!" An accented voice called out over the noise of the bustling trade district.

Fittingly, the person the voice belonged to also looked over the rest of the trade district. At seven and a half feet in height it was hard not to. All the other races of the Alliance were just so Light damned _short_.

Lanaura sighed, she'd been at this for an hour. The _one day_ no mages happened to be perusing Stormwind's markets.

Lanaura, Champion of the Frozen Wastes, shook her head in irritation. Lanaura was a Draenei, one of the many races that made up the glorious Alliance. She stood at Seven and a Half feet on two broad hooves. Her skin was an exceptionally pale blue, as opposed to the much darker tones of most of her Race. Not that it was rare or anything but it was rather uncommon, a point Lanaura took a strange pride in.

Her white, slightly glowing, pupil less eyes swept over the market, looking for anyone who looked remotely mage-like. Her very dark, lush lips turned downwards in a small frown. She pushed a strand of her pure white hair back into the bang that nearly covered her left eye. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, leaving two hanging bangs to frame her face. Lanaura took great care of her hair, the single vanity she allowed herself.

As with all Draenei females, she had a horn on each side of her head that curved and swept straight backwards and perpendicular to the ground. She was ever grateful for that particular fact, she had some friends whose horns shot straight out for a foot on each side. They had to turn their heads to get through human doorways much to her amusement.

All of a sudden a thought struck her like a lightning bolt. She slapped a palm to her forehead in exasperation. The trade district was literally next door to the Mage district of the city. If she couldn't find a mage here, she could walk for five minutes and be guaranteed to find one there.

Fortunately, she was spared even that small walk. A loud tapping against her knee drew her attention straight down, into a pair of green eyes.

"You were looking for a portal?"

The fabulously moustachioed Gnome looking back at her had a wide smile on his face, no doubt eager to have his ten gold and go.

Lanaura beamed back at the diminutive magi. "Thank the Light! Someone at last!" She chuckled slightly. With smooth, practiced movements she dropped ten gold pieces into the Gnome's hot little hand for his troubles.

"Fantastic! Now, if you would just stand back I'll work my magic!" The Gnome squeaked enthusiastically.

Lanaura quickly obeyed eager to be on her way at long last. Her twin sister, Telona, was adventuring out of Dalaran, helping the Argent Crusade contain the Scourge remnants left in the frozen north. All in the name of helping the Light or whatever Priest thing she did.

She had to supress a shiver.

Lanaura herself had been one of the first adventurers to hit the blighted beaches of Northrend. Her journey took her from the beautiful Howling Fjord all the way up Icecrown Citadel, where she and her guild had stuck pointy things into the Lich King.

Well, pointy things and fire, green or otherwise. But Lanaura never did much bother with all that magic tripe. She was a Warrior and proud of it. She left it to others to wave spells and chant in those gaudy robes of theirs. Personally, she'd take a finely balanced Axe or two and a good set of plate any day of the week.

But that wasn't today. Today, she was a simple traveler, clad in easy traveling leathers and a heavy, hooded cloak suited to the frigid temperatures of Northrend. Her usual armor, both sets, was resting easy in her enchanted bags, tied to her hip. Her weapons, two large two-handed axes among her other sets, were there as well. Not that she wasn't armed of course. She had a number of knives hidden away on her person, just in case.

The Gnome concentrated, waving his stubby arms around looking appropriately mystical. After a couple seconds he was rewarded as a shimmering portal solidified in front of him.

"_Echada, Mikrei_"

"Excuse me?" The Gnome squeaked, cocking his head.

Realizing what she'd said, Lanaura barked a short laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry. That meant 'Thank you Gnome'."

The Gnome just shook his head. "No bother, you did pay me. Now in you go, I can't maintain this thing forever." He hurried her.

Thanking him again, she stepped through the portal as she had a million times before.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, a male Draenei happened to pass by at just the wrong time. Being as tall as he was, he didn't notice the gnome beneath him, and ended up kicking the Gnome over just as Lanaura entered.

His concentration broken, the portal started slipping away. The Gnome panicked, desperately trying to wrestle the spell back into place.

Whatever he did, it didn't help in the slightest. The portal imploded, knocking back everybody in a ten metre radius of where it had been.

And casting one unfortunate Warrior far across dimensions and space, to a land in a realm which sorely needed her.

* * *

Everything hurt. A lot.

Like a lot, a lot.

Like every part of her had been flayed open, then had had sea water thrown on her kind of hurt.

Like Thok the Bloodthirsty had decided to use her as his personal chew toy. Again.

Needless to say, Lanaura was not a happy camper. Here she had been expecting a quick, easy portal to Dalaran to surprise her sister. Instead here she was. With the pain.

She had enough of her faculties to realize that something had gone wrong with the portal here. Without opening her eyes, she checked out what she could.

Fingers: Check. Arms: Check. Legs: Check. Hooves: Check. Ok good, at least she had all her limbs still attached. Now if only they didn't _hurt so Light damned much_.

It was cold, that much she knew. So she could very well be somewhere off course in Northrend, but Lanaura was pretty sure Portals didn't work like that.

But hey, what would she know, she wasn't a Mage.

Bracing herself, she opened her eyes and pushed herself to her knees.

Ey'up. This most definitely wasn't Northrend.

She was in the middle of a large, circular room. An arching roof above had huge holes missing, and a section of the wall was completely gone as well.

Also, there were the corpses. Lots and Lots of corpses. And the stench was incredible.

"Oh dear. What have I gotten into now?" She questioned no one in particular.

Dead bodies were strewn liberally across the room, rotting and filthy. Groaning, she levered herself to her feet and stumbled over to the nearest one, hoping it wasn't an Alliance race.

Now Lanaura had been a warrior for many years. She had seen and caused death more times than she could count. She had battled everything from simple bandits to the shambling horrors of the Undead Scourge and the terrors the Burning Legion could produce.

So instead of doing what pretty much everyone should have done when coming face to face with a Darkspawn for the first time and unprepared, namely yell and soil their smallclothes, she did not.

Lanaura simply made a noise of disgust at the back of her throat as she inspected the horror.

Monstrous was the only thing that came to mind. Piggy nose, sickly green skin, lots of teeth. Yup, not something to introduce to your mother. This particular one had been nearly bisected by something sharp. It had met a violent end then.

Lanaura still didn't know whether that was a bad thing or not.

So she simply backed away and got a better look at the room she was in. It was at that point she noticed the humungous purple corpse that had been behind her that whole time.

Lanaura whistled in surprise at the giant dead thing. "That's one big mother." She said to herself. Taking a closer look, someone had seemingly shoved a pair of thin, sharp blades into each of it's eye sockets. Now _that_ would have been something to see. This huge thing screaming and roaring and something jumping at it and stabbing it liberally. Love it. She had to say, it looked a bit like an Ogre. So she was going to call it that from now on.

The room having exhausted its information capacity Lanaura shuffled over to the large hole in the wall, intent on getting some lay of the land.

The sight that lay before her very nearly made the hardened warrior vomit.

The tower she was at the very top of was in fact just one part of a massive, ruined fortress. From her perch atop the tower she could see for miles, including everything in the valley below. Snow blanketed most of the forest beyond the valley, and here and there inside it. Most had yet to be covered, however.

Much to her dismay.

Bodies were strewn everywhere, rotting in the cold air. The fortress had been the sight of a massive battle, between whom, Lanaura still could not say. She hazarded a guess at these monsters against someone. She couldn't picture the creatures allying with anything not of their kind.

That wasn't the worst part, however. A large portion of the bodies were torn limb from limb, ripped apart, and what looked like _eaten._

She was rather vividly reminded of the utter devastation at the Wrathgate, after the undead had rained the new Plague over the joined Horde and Alliance forces.

Thousands had died that day, including one of the Alliances greatest, Bolvar Fordragon.

It had been one the worst things she had ever had to witness in her life. This ranked very close, however.

Her normally smiling mouth set itself in a grim line. She would have to go down there, and gather what information she could.

Where in the name of the Naaru she was, and what was going on, were the two most pressing concerns.

She reached down to her belt and rubbed a small stone attached to it. She concentrated and after a second and a huge burst of smoke she sat astride her personal favourite mount.

The green Proto-Drake roared as it appeared, clearly happy to be out in the world again.

Lanaura sighed in relief. Despite being nowhere she could recognize she still had access to her mounts. Pocket dimension mount storage was one of the greatest things ever.

Taking a second to wrap herself tighter in her thick cloak to ward off the cold, she snapped the reigns.

The Proto-drake launched itself into the cold air, gliding easily down to the valley floor below.

After a minute, the drake landed with a large thump. Lanaura slipped from the saddle with a grunt of pain, still feeling the effects of whatever the portal did to her.

Instead of dismissing her Drake, she ducked under the huge wing and walked around to its massive jaw.

"Who's a good little drakey. You are, aren't you Sweetie? Yes you are, yes you are!" She cooed at her favourite mount, scratching the underside of its jaw with both hands.

The drake growled in appreciation, it's tiny little arms wiggling in glee.

Now most people she knew had a Proto-Drake of some form or another. Blue, violet, bronze, red, green, a whole buncha colours. Most had named them tough, scary names like Charger, Flash, Craggy, Tank, Thunder or Fire Face.

Lanaura had named hers Sweetie. Take that for what it's worth.

Lanaura trailed off with her baby talk, settling for just looking at her trusty mount, a small smile on her lips and an uncharacteristic sadness in her eyes. Wherever she was, she still had her mounts. That was a massive relief. She didn't have to hoof it everywhere.

Turning away, she started investigating bodies.

Amongst them, she found Humans.

That answered one question at least. Humans and these monsters had battled here. Unfortunately, judging by the fact that the corpses still lay where they fell, torn and sliced apart, it seemed that the creatures had won.

Humans, like all civilized creatures, buried or burned their dead. After a battle they honored the losses and moved on. Even their enemies never just left them to rot.

It was easy to see what side of this particular war she would rather be on.

None of the human corpses she found had any heraldry, or wore any uniform that Lanaura could recognize. Dark Iron chainmail and Steel swords seemed to be the prevailing trait, differing crests here and there but simply nothing Lanaura had ever seen before.

They were humans, yes. But not any humans she knew. These were not Alliance men and women. This was rather concerning.

Another hour moving through the fortress had yielded nothing more of note save more and more desecrated corpses. The creatures that had survived had moved on. However, on some of the upper platforms she had found bodies that were freshly slain, less than a couple days old at most. Either the creatures had been infighting, or someone had been there quite recently.

But they were gone now. The only things Lanaura had for company were her drake, and the ghosts of this place.

The sun was low in the sky as she returned to where she had left her mount. With the dropping of the sun, the temperature followed suit. It did make for the rather funny sight of her Drake blowing massive plumes of steam with every breath.

She rubbed a spot behind the Drake's ear affectionately. "Well, I don't think we're in Azeroth any more Sweetie." She said.

Sweetie only growled slightly. She didn't understand words, but she could pick up emotions and scents. Her master was bothered, not nearly her usual self. So she settled on bumping her lightly with her head.

Lanaura giggled in response to her Drake's attempt at cheering her up. "Yea, I know. I'll be fine when we get away from here. Which we should probably do nowish come to think of it."

Lanaura quickly mounted up and with a great roar Sweetie launched herself into the air on furious beats of her powerful wings. As far away as they could get from that accursed ruin.

* * *

They flew for a few miles over blackened forests high above the treetops, Lanaura straining her eyes for somewhere to land and rest for the night. A village, a fort, a clearing, Something.

After a few more miles, Lanaura ran out of forest. The good news? She had found a village. So that was a thing.

The bad news? It had been utterly destroyed. She made Sweetie circle the town, gathering what info she could from the sky. What she did find was not good. Bloated and carved apart corpses littered the ground, building had been burned to the ground with nothing but their foundations showing.

One building, the one that seemed to be the biggest one in the village, had survived being put to the torch. If Lanaura had to guess, this would be their place of worship. It would not have been spared. The creatures would have broken in and slaughtered whatever they found inside.

No matter how hardened a person could get, a sight like that just wasn't something anyone wanted to see.

Then, something unexpected caught her eye in the dying light of the day. Was that… Smoke?

It was! And it wasn't a huge plume of smoke either, which would be an indication of a raging blaze or an off season forest fire. No, this was a small, controlled fire, which could only mean one thing.

People! Live, not dead, hopefully not monsters people!

Her sprits greatly lifted, she turned Sweetie into a bank, flying directly towards the trailing plume of smoke, intent on answers.

Now, how would she do this. She could find a clearing nearby and land Sweetie there, so as not to startle whoever she met with massive amounts of sharp looking drake.

Or she could land right in the middle of the camp, drake or no drake.

As always, Lanaura took the more fun option.

* * *

Andraste's flaming snatch she was tired.

But then again, so would you be if you had the month she'd had.

Kallian Tabris, elf of Denerim's Alienage and as of one month ago, Grey Warden, was not a happy camper.

It was hard to believe it had been only a month since she had been taken from her own arranged wedding, killed an Arl's son, been arrested for killing said Arl's son, and conscripted into the Wardens. All in the space of a single day.

Then, not a week later, the King had been betrayed at Ostagar, and he, his army nearly every Grey Warden in Ferelden had been slain by the foul Darkspawn. Leaving only herself and Alistair to overthrow the traitorous Teyrn Logain, gather the armies of Dwarves, Mages and Elves… Oh and stop a Blight.

Just an easy Sunday morning right?

And to top it all off, somehow she had found herself _in charge!_ The Senior Grey Warden (not that that said much mind you) was Alistair, but he had shown himself utterly unwilling to take the roll himself. And so it had fallen to her.

So now she had to juggle the personalities of the ragtag band she led. A cynical and sarcastic apostate mage by the name of Morrigan, a massive and opinionated Qunari they called Sten, a lay-sister of the Chantry with a set of rather unusual skills for a woman of the cloth named Leliana, a wise old Senior Enchanter named Wynne, an introverted, depressive circle mage with a staggering talent with Ice magic named Elsa Amell and the wisecracking, bumbling Senior Warden himself, Alistair.

As if sensing her very thoughts and not liking being left out, a sharp bark rang out beside her.

Oh yes, and who could forget her new Mabari war hound, Muffins.

Even she didn't know why she named him Muffins. Must have thought it was funny at the time.

Muffins barked happily. "Hm. Glad you're happy with it at least." She mumbled, scratching her dog's ear.

Muffins whined in contentment and shuffled closer, learning up against her so as to facilitate easier scratching.

Kallian laughed at her dog's antics. He was just about the only consistently optimistic part of their group there was, and it was a joy having him around.

The Elf woman had the same red hair as he cousin, worn short. She swept her green eyes over the camp, checking in with her "merry band".

Alistair was fairly close by, tending to the main fire. Leliana and Wynne were chatting around on the fire's other side. Morrigan was a little way away, her own tent set up by her own personal fire. Sten was just inside the firelight, watching over everyone and everything in the rapidly dimming light. Bodan Ferric and his simple son Sandal were away a bit from the rest of the camp, preparing to sleep in their cart. Elsa, the mage they recruited in the Circle Tower, had already retired to her tent.

Kallian sighed anew. That one was a challenge.

After Ostagar, Morrigan, Alistair and herself had gone to Lothering to try and find as much supplies as they could.

They left with a few tents, some food and two new companions. A convicted murderer and a mysterious Lay-Sister that Kallian hadn't quite decided wasn't crazy, but companions nonetheless. The Wardens, all two of them, needed allies. They couldn't afford to be picky, and Kallian understood that.

Fortunately, it had worked out well. Sten was a beast with a two handed anything in his hands and Leliana was like nothing the City Elf had ever seen with a bow. They pulled their weight, that much could not be denied.

They had journeyed first of all to the Mage's Tower, hoping to cash in the first of the Treaties they had in their possession. What they found was a tower filled to the brim with Abominations and a Templar force just waiting for the paperwork so they could slaughter every mage in the building.

The Warden just couldn't let that happen. So she and her group had gone in and cleared the tower themselves.

There they found Wynne, three other mages, and a group of small children holding out against the Demons.

Wynne, who had been holding up a barrier between that room and the rest of the tower, had insisted on coming along to help, to which Kallian had readily agreed. She knew the layout of the building, not to mention she was a Healer.

They had progressed up a few more floors, fighting demons the whole way, until they happened to stumble across a scene that Kallian still couldn't believe.

A human woman, staff in hand, was desperately defending herself; successfully she had to admit, against a score of demons single handed. She had been throwing Ice magic around like she was born wielding it, slamming, crushing and freezing all she thought to.

The party had immediately rushed to her aid, slamming like a hammer into the demon's rear.

Within moments the fight was over, leaving the young human and the Warden's party as the only things standing.

It was then Kallian had gotten her first real look at the exceptionally powerful mage. She was younger than she had expected, looking to be around twenty at the most. Her Circle robes hung loosely on her thin frame in rather fitting colours of pale and sky blue. She wore her absolutely beautiful blonde hair in a wild, windswept braid over her left shoulder, gathered at the bottom with a small snowflake tie. Add an exceptionally pale complexion, high cheek bones and a naturally beautiful face and you had one stunning woman.

Wynne had been ecstatic another mage had survived and made hasty introductions. This was great, because Elsa had seemed to be totally disinclined to do it herself. When she did speak, it was in quiet, short sentences.

But that sheer power and the amazing skill that Elsa had shown with her magic was something to keep notice of. She may make a valuable addition to their group.

They had continued on, all nearly died to a sloth demon, killed the Abomination in control of it all, saved the Senior Enchanter and won the day.

Senior Enchanter Irving had managed to convince the leader of the Templars, Greigor, that everything was now all right. Which was great really. Kallian didn't want to get killed by Templars if she could help it.

Kallian had had an idea at the back of her head ever since the moment she had witnessed Elsa in battle. After a short, heated discussion with Alistair, they'd both made a very hard decision.

Pulling Irving, Greigor and Elsa aside, they dropped the bomb.

"We, that is to say the Grey Wardens, wish to offer you a place in our ranks, Elsa." Alistair had said, as full of cheer as he always was.

Three pairs of eyes had widened rather comically. "Absolutely not!" Greigor had immediately yelled.

"Greigor…" Irving had sighed. "If the Wardens want her, then you have no right to say no. And you know it. But neither of our opinions matter. Elsa, child. What do you think?"

Just looking at Elsa at that moment, it was quite easy to tell just what Elsa's idea was. She was utterly terrified of the whole concept. "But I… I can't! I only had my H-Harrowing a few months ago; I can't l-l-leave yet! Or even ever! I can't go with you!" She had cried.

Now, shock at the rather sudden offer, Kallian could understand. Outright refusal she could understand.

But fear?

Sadly, despite how nicely everyone was putting it, Elsa really didn't have a choice.

"I'm sorry Elsa. But I'm afraid you don't really have a say." Kallian had gently admitted. "We have seen how you can fight. We believe you would make a fine Grey Warden. And we have a Blight on our hands. We can't afford sentiment during a Blight. We would much prefer it if you would join voluntarily, but you would be far from the first Warden recruited against their wishes. If you say no, we will invoke the Right of Conscription and drag you kicking and screaming away if we must."

Elsa had been stunned for a couple seconds. After that she looked like she was hyperventilating and on the verge of tears.

"You.. You don't understand! I'm a danger to everyone! If I go with you I'll just hurt you in the end! I'm _dangerous! _Can't you see? I need to be here, where people can keep me from hurting anyone! I can't go with you! Please!" She had pleaded with them.

Kallian and Alistair had only looked away sadly. Grey Wardens were needed, and she had been chosen. That was really that.

Fortunately, they didn't have to invoke the Right after all. The motherly Wynne had come to the rescue. She wrapped soothing hands around Elsa's shoulders, whispering reassurances to the panicked mage.

"It's all right child. I will be there with you. You can keep up your studies on the road." She had said.

"If you wouldn't mind, Irving?" She continued.

"You wish to accompany the Wardens? I thought you might. Very well Wynne, I give you leave. I hope, for all of us, you succeed." He had said.

Greigor simply made a noise of disgust and stormed off to yell at someone.

They'd made their departure not long afterwards. Elsa had not deigned it necessary to say goodbye to more than the Senior Enchanter himself and a survivor they had found in the storeroom, a young Elf girl named Niera, and had quickly gathered what little she owned.

In the week and a half since they had left Lake Calenhad Elsa had spoken maybe five words to anyone other than Wynne. Kallian fully intended to plumb the motherly woman for information about their latest recruit.

Without context, Kallian could make neither heads nor tails of Elsa's little corner of the Sloth Demon's realm. It had been remarkably similar to Alistair's. Just Elsa and her Mother, Father and sister. Something bad had happened to them was what Kallian had guessed. Something that had made her believe she was truly a danger to the people around her.

What exactly happened, and why it had affected her so strongly, were two questions Kallian both wanted and at the same time sorely did not want to find out.

The group had settled on trying to find the Dalish next. The southern fortifications were holding for the time being the last they knew. The Brecillian Forest would soon be overrun however and the Dalish may very well move on before they could find them. Getting to the clans before that happened was vital.

That was the plan at least. A couple of miles into the forest they had come across a group of armed men surrounding a ragged, thin and terrified looking man. Kallian had been shocked; it was one of King Calian's honour guards from Ostagar!

Before they could step in, to try to _do _something, the man had been run through and left for dead. His killers had been dealt with in rather comically short order with a few long range spells and a couple arrows.

The man told them about the key to the Royal Arms Chest he had hidden at Ostagar, and promptly kinda died.

In all honesty, Kallian's first instinct had been to sod the whole idea and continue on what they were doing. What exactly did they need a fancy sword, some letters between the Orlesian empress and a dead man and a whole lot of bad memories for?

Then Alistair had pulled her aside and explained exactly why they would be going back.

Alistair knew exactly how the Joining ritual worked and what they needed. Said he'd overheard some of the older wardens discussing it at Ostagar. Fresh Darkspawn blood, not exactly hard to come by these days, and a single drop of preserved blood from an Archdemon.

Fereldan's entire stock was in a chest, buried underneath the Grey Warden tent. If they wanted Elsa to take the Joining, which they did, they would have to go get it.

So they did.

A few days, a lot of dead Darkspawn and a brief cremation later here they were. Just outside of the ruined town of Lothering.

They planned on completing the Joining ceremony later on that night. They had the blood they needed, the Joining chalice and a prospective recruit that Kallian _desperately_ wanted to survive.

Then a madwoman dropped from the sky into the middle of their camp, riding a _DRAGON_ of all things and everything had gone straight to the Void.


	2. Watch for falling Drakes

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
**  
Why hello there everybody! I really should have introduced myself in the _first_ chapter, but hey. Fight the system.

I of course go by Lucky Fractal, and this is my story. First story on , so that's a thing. I hope to continue to entertain any who may find their way here. Here's to a long and strange road ahead!

Also, any and All Draenei language in this fic will be based on the amazing Eidthi's RP language, which can be found at wow/en/forum/topic/7199640839. Have a look, it's amazing!

**Reviewers:**

**Novice: **My first ever reviewer! I hope to deliver a decent DA-WoW crossover as much as you want to read one.

**Great Northern One: **Fine then! I will! :P

**Takao-kun:**Oh my _goodness_ I forgot her tail. Seems like a fairly... Important detail. Wont be forgetting that again!  
I also hadn't considered the Desire Deamon thing, but i can so see it now. And yea, I cant wait to start Zevran. Oh the flirting.

**Wertheren: **Good to know! You might want to know now. I Love cliffhangers. They're soo much fun!

**Etheral-23: **Thanks! Hope I hold your interest!

* * *

Land in the middle of the clearing it was!

Lanaura urged Sweetie into a dive directly above the camp, the twilight hiding any shadow she would have otherwise made. Sweetie tucked her leathery wings and dropped, plunging like a falcon directly towards the open ground near the middle of the clearing.

At the very last moment Sweetie spread her arms wide, pulling up from the death defying dive. They slowed _just_ enough to slam down into the middle of the camp without injury, but making a hell of a thud.

They'd practiced that trick. It was always fun to see Gnomes jump their entire height in the air when startled.

All the previous times they'd done it people had laughed it off; maybe shot them an exasperated glare or two. But all would be forgiven for the joke it was.

Lanaura had to admit looking back that maybe dropping a particularly scaly looking drake into an unknown camp in an unknown world maybe, kinda… wasn't the best idea.

Maybe.

As they slammed down hard on the slightly soggy earth Sweetie let loose a massive roar, just like she'd been taught to. Lanaura caught sight of one of the new group's faces, this one a male human. His expression was utter shock. He had tried to jump to his feet only to stumble and fall on his back.

Hilarious.

Lanaura laughed loud and maniacally. Ah, there truly was nothing like a good prank.

But, all good things must come to an end. She patted Sweetie's back to let her know the joke was over.

She swung her head around, getting a picture of the whole camp. Buncha humans, a particularly short high elf and was that a pair of dwarves? Excellent!

"Khronokai Khry-SWORD!"

Her race's typical greeting not even off her tongue when she spotted a truly gigantic human lookin bastard about Lanaura's own height running straight at her, a two handed great sword raised above his head and ready to strike.

Fast as she could she dismissed Sweetie back to her pocket dimension. Just in time it seemed, as the man's sword plunged through empty air where Sweetie's neck has been but a fraction of a second before.

The man let off a _very_ confused grunt. But he rallied admirably, halting his swords downward swing and immediately taking a horizontal swipe at her head.

Two of Lanaura's hidden daggers sprang seemingly like magic into her hands, held in a backhand grip. The two thin blades clashed against heavy steel, stopping it dead in its tracks.

In his confusion as to how such small blades had managed to halt seven pounds of sharp steel swung by a very strong man, his concentration slipped.

Lanaura took the opportunity he gave her. She forced his arms up, her blades snaked in and his blade was forced from his grip.

He could only watch as his greatsword plunged into the dirt to his side. He immediately looked back at his opponent…

Only to have his vision filled by gloved fist.

As Lanaura's fist impacted with the big man's face she reveled in the feeling of cartilage crushing underneath her knuckles as she broke his nose. Nothing a quick bit of healing magic wouldn't fix right up but a painful lesson to learn nonetheless.

After all, that's what you got for _trying to kill Sweetie!_ I mean c'mon, _who does that!?_

The big man was knocked ass over kettle onto his back by the force of the blow, slamming hard onto his back. If Lanaura had been one to take advantage of a knocked down man she would have swiftly and ruthlessly send a flying hoof where no man wished such a thing to go.

She wasn't such a woman, but she didn't get the chance to prove that. The more normal sized man from earlier had managed to snatch a fancy looking sword from somewhere and had charged her the moment his companion went down. A lightning quick inspection left Lanaura with the impression he was a Warrior, much like herself. He moved like almost every male Warrior she had ever met at least. Powerful bursts of movement that looked used to wearing heavy armor.

Not two steps behind him was the Elven woman, a pair of long knives, closer to short swords in her own hands. This one moved like a Rogue, graceful and light on her feet. She knew how to wield her weapons of choice, that much was certain.

Out the corner of her eye she kept watch on the two over by the tents. The pretty redhead woman had a bow in her hands with an arrow firmly knocked; just looking for a clear shot should her companions need her.

It was the older woman that really concerned Lanaura. She'd raided with enough Mages to know what a magic staff looked like, and that could only mean one thing. The woman was a mage herself, obviously.

That could be bad. If one was partial to understatement at least.

But all that was pushed rapidly to the sidelines as the two charging her got in range.

She jumped backwards away from the man's controlled swing, only to immediately clash blades with the woman who had surged in after her companion's opening.

She was quick as a serpent with her strikes, blades flashing in the dim light of the fire and the very last dregs of sunlight. Lanaura was able to match her blade for blade, but it was way too close for her liking.

This one was particularly skilled, worthy of respect. If they didn't end up killing one another she was going to have to talk dagger play later on.

And there was the problem. Getting them to stop trying to kill her.

"_Chethma, Akata'eras! Efto Tor oche kaso! Ein te neomeno, thuma chethma!"_ Lanaura yelled as she and her opponent continued their deadly dance. Inwardly, she swore. Light cursed bilingualism!

The elf didn't respond, she only dived out of the way, as did her male friend. Lanaura immediately swung towards the Archer and the Mage, readying herself to deflect any arrows that came her way now the Archer had a clear shot.

What she didn't expect was a hundred and ten kilogram, waist high missile slamming into her chest.

At the very last second Lanaura had managed to spot the incoming Wardog. She grabbed the dog's bottom jaw to stop him biting and fell backwards with his charge. Managing to get her legs under the dog as she fell, the moment she hit the ground she simply added a little bit more momentum. The dog was flung well behind her, impacting heavily with a sharp yelp of pain.

Lanaura continued to roll with her momentum, completing the full backwards roll. Easy as a born gymnast she rolled onto her hands and sprang to her hooves. Na'aru, she had to try fighting without her plate some time, it gave her so much more manoeuvrability!

So the war hound hadn't managed to bite her. Which would have been great and all if Lanaura hadn't been sent flying by five hundred kilograms of roaring, charging Bear.

Five hundred kilograms if you didn't know was a tremendous amount of weight. At a speed of twenty miles an hour when it hit, it made the Mabari missile from earlier feel like a gnat sting.

In Lanaura's defense, who the hell knew Humans could be druids in this world?

Lanaura was sent sailing a few meters to land face first in the mud next to the fire. Turns out, heavy traveling cloaks and leathers do little to stop angry Bear. Lanaura would have an easier time cataloguing the ribs that _weren't_ broken. And the dislocated shoulder, that was a thing.

Years and years of training kept Lanaura's weapons in her hand despite her short tenure as a seven foot tall blue space bird. Her arms had ended up above her head, both daggers firmly in her grasp.

Before she could even think to move a massive force slammed down on her entire body, crushing her to the dirt unrelentingly. It was if someone had turned up gravity especially for her, and went a little ham with the dial.

That would be the Mage's contribution then.

Two different boots were stamped on both of her wrists, and two separate pairs of hands forced her daggers from her grip. Another one straddled her back, judging by the weight it was the elf woman. Lanaura felt the unmistakable sensation of a blade being pressed against her neck through the heavy cloak and only then did the crushing pressure relent.

Now normally being straddled by pretty elf girls was a cause for celebration and a very entertaining evening, however right at that second Lanaura's ribs didn't exactly feel like partying. Instead they chose to be the pissed off neighbors of the organ world and protest loudly that someone had smashed a window. Or in this case, several windows.

"_Ow…_" She managed to squeeze out through the rather exceptional pain.

The knife dug into her cloak just that little bit more. How her hood had managed to stay up that whole fight was beyond her.

Despite the pain, Lanaura managed a pain filled nervous chuckle. _"Octethi?" _

Fuck! Draenei again! _This was not helping!_

"Now." She heard a light, feminine voice with an underlay of steel begin to speak. "You are going to tell us who exactly you are and why you attacked us!"

Lanaura couldn't help it, she couldn't help but get a bit offended. She was cut off from an angry retort by another voice, this one a male. "Might want to find out if she speaks Fereldan. We don't speak Angry Dragon Lady after all."

Lanaura winced heavily as her captor shifted slightly. "I didn't… Ow… Exactly mean to… Yell in Draenei." Lanaura forced out in Alliance Common. That was a relief, at least she could communicate.

"Now… I can't count… How many ribs… You broke with… That whole bear thing… But, I'm not going… Anywhere. _Light _this hurts… If you wouldn't… Mind… Getting up… Please?"

Lanaura could practically feel the frown coming from her captor.

"Wynne." The woman said after a couple seconds. "Check her."

She heard a shuffling as the older mage knelt down beside them. A hand pressed in the middle of Lanaura's back, just above where the Elf was sitting.

"Oh dear... Yes, she's telling the truth. She has four broken ribs. She's not going anywhere any time soon without help." Was the Mage's endorsement.

"Hm. Fine. But try anything at all and I'll kill you. Understand?" The elf, clearly the leader, threatened.

Quite unnecessarily as the case was. "Crystal."

With one last huff the blade was removed and the Elf's admittedly rather slight weight left Lanaura's back.

"Thank the Light for that…" Lanaura, freed from the extra weight pressing against her broken ribs was able to talk relatively freely once again. Well, as best she could while face down in the mud.

Anyone who wasn't a Warrior or Death Knight would still find the pain crippling, but hey. Years and Years of pain helped toughen a girl.

"Now I'm going to ask you again." The elf said. "Who are you, and why did you attack us?"

Lanaura groaned again. "The big guy tried to hurt Sweetie. I took exception to that." She explained. Poorly.

"Sweetie?" The male voice from earlier asked. "You named that dragon Sweetie? Wait a second, where did the dragon _go! _It just vanished! One second it was there the next, Poof! Why didn't I notice that before! _Dragon's don't just vanish like that!_" He ranted, sounding more and more hysterical as he went along.

"Shut up Alistair." The Elf commanded. "Not important right now. I'm sure we'll find out."

Ah, a name. Lanaura had at least one name to apply to a face. His voice was not deep enough to be normally associated to someone of Lanaura's height. With only two males in camp that weren't dwarves that meant he was the handsome, shorter one. Good to know. Could be useful information.

"Ok." Lanaura broke in. "I'm going to reach inside my bag. I am going to pull out a very potent painkiller, and I am going to drink that. That will let me sit up, so I can talk to you all while my face isn't in this Light damned mud. Is that ok?" She asked.

"Fine. Leliana, keep an arrow up. Just in case." The leader ordered.

Ah, another name! Things were looking up!

"Your mud smells like wet dog by the way. Oh, and I'd rather like my left arm back please."

"Huh? Oh, oh right. Sorry." The male, Alistair, sounded slightly embarrassed. Oh he was going to be fun to tease.

Lanaura was careful to use slow, steady movements as she reached her left hand to her waist and dipped it into the small bag at her hip, under the cloak. The reason was twofold.

One: So as not to startle anyone. Specifically the people aiming an arrow at her head.

Two: _Exceptionally _loud protests from her still very broken ribs.

She withdrew a small vial packed to the rim with potion, moved the bottle to her mouth, pulled the stopper with her teeth, spat the stopper out and downed the potion greedily.

The effect was immediate. Cool pain-free ness washed over her in one massive wave. As the sensation receded it left her feeling tingly and all around fantastic.

Not to self, kiss Trixie for her potions.

Lanaura groaned in relief as the pain was washed away. "Oh yes, that's the stuff. Can I get up now please?" She punctuated her request by wiggling her arm still trapped by boot.

Wordlessly the foot removed itself.

With a great groan Lanaura pushed herself up off the muddy ground enough so that she could plonk herself on her rather generous derriere.

Not giving the group surrounding her any real attention at the moment she flicked her hood off and shook out her hair, making sure it hadn't messed itself up too much. Fortunately, it had stayed in its customary ponytail.

She had just started running her fingers through it to check for tangles when a stunned Alistair brought her back to the present.

"What in Andraste's name _are_ you?"

Lanaura turned her full attention back to the group staring at her with mixed expressions of curious interest, in the case of the black haired druid woman, caution, in the case of the remarkably big war hound, Outright shock on the faces of the big bloke and slightly less outright shock on the faces of the rest.

She cocked an eyebrow. "What? Never seen a Draenei before?"

* * *

Kalian's mouth fell open, as did the mouths of her companions. Weirdly, it was _Sten_ who seemed the most shocked. For the regularly blunt as a Warhammer and stoic to a fault Qunari, it was a rather novel sight.

But even that oddity was no comparison to the quite clearly female… _person_ who had dropped into their camp and went toe to toe with two Grey Wardens, a very capable Qunari, two mages and a Mabari Warhound.

And the reason she gave why is_ Sten attacked her dragon_. Which, Kallian had to add, she was _RIDING_.

She could just feel the headache coming on.

And then, just to be difficult Kallian was sure, she ignored them all and focused her attention on fixing her (admittedly rather gorgeous) hair.

Trust Alistair to be unable to keep quiet for very long. "What in Andraste's name _are_ you?" He gasped, truly at a loss.

The woman blinked, as if realizing we were there. "What?" She replied in that odd accent of hers. "Never seen a Draenei before?"

Kalian couldn't help it. A palm smacked soundly into her forehead. The things she had to put up with…

Once again surprising them all, Sten was the next to speak. He started babbling in his native tongue, or so it sounded to her. It was clear he expected her to understand him.

His tone was quite easy to pick up however. He was confused, as_ HELL._

Through it all the woman just kept an eyebrow cocked in bemusement. When their Qunari trailed off she turned to Kalian. "Did you have any idea what he just said?"

Turning back to Sten she added a second comment. "Speak a' da normal language, OK?"

With a noticeable frown he switched back to Ferelden. "I asked why you were here. Why was a Tallis sent? Were you instructed to find an answer to the Arishok's question as well?"

The woman blinked. "A what sent by Who?"

"Do not lie. If you were not a Tallis, you would not fight. No Qunari woman does." Sten pressed the issue.

"Uh." The interrogated woman intelligently replied. "Well for one I'm not Qunari, whatever that is. I guess you guys really haven't met any Draenei before…."

"Preposterous." Sten dismissed. "You look exactly like a Qunari, therefore you are."

The woman sighed. "Ok… Do Qunami whatsits or whatever have hooves?"

"No."

"Oh. Well you see…"

Then she lifted a leg up and wiggled her foo.. Hoof? In Sten's direction.

"Cause I do."

Sten grunted. "It seems I was mistaken."

The woman eyed him with a flat stare. "Reeeeeeeealy?"

Kallian groaned in dismay. This was going nowhere.

"Ok, let's try this again. Who are you?" She asked, trying to bring things back on track.

The woman smiled brightly at her. "Hai, I'm Lanaura. I got a buncha titles, but people mainly call me the 'Champion of the Frozen Wastes'.

"Lanaura huh? No last name?" Kallian asked.

She shook her head. "That's me! And no, not many of my race do."

"All right then, what are you?"

Lanaura sighed. "A Draenei? Like I've told you? C'mon keep up."

Kallian's eyebrow twitched. Repressing the irritation she pressed on. "Why did you attack us?"

Lanaura looked shocked. "I told you, I didn't! All I did was scare the pants off of you. That guy…" She said, pointing at Sten. "Swung a sword at Sweetie. Seriously, who _does_ that?"

All eyes turned to Sten. He was still frowning. "I believed we were under attack. I reacted accordingly." He explained.

"Yea, and in case you hadn't noticed." Lanaura cut in. "Ya'll are still alive. All I did was break the big guy's nose. Because he tried to hurt my drake."

"Wait." Alistair cut in, as was his wont. "You knocked Sten clean out, went blow to blow with me, Kallian and Muffins, all because he tried to hurt your dragon? So this was all a big misunderstanding?"

"Muffins? Wait, was that the dog's name?" Lanaura asked, tone brightening.

Muffins fielded that question himself. He barked happily and wandered up to the Alien. At his cautious sniffing Lanaura laughed. She stuck a hand in her cloak and pulled a _huge_ raw steak from _nowhere_ and held it out for him.

It must have been a trick of the light. There was no other explanation for the fact that the Mabari's eyes suddenly seemed to turn into bright pink hearts as he happily lunged at the offered meat.

A couple seconds wolfing down the treat later and Muffins had a new best friend. He tackled the Draenei and started happily bathing her face in Mabari drool by rapidly licking her.

Lanaura giggled, happily cooing affection at the Warhound.

Kallian watched her warhound cover the newcomer in doggy love and could only let loose a huge, world weary sigh. Being arrested back in Denerim was sounding better and better by the day.

With a wave of her hand Leliana stood down, pulling the arrow from her bow. "Wynne, could you look over her please? She'll need healing."

Wynne shot her a questioning look. "Are you sure child?" She questioned.

"Yes Wynne. Muffins is a good judge of character as any. I don't think we will have any more problems."

"Oh yes, trust our safety to the _mutt_ then. 'Tis clearly the best idea." Their very own wilder witch scornfully stuck her own opinion. "After all the work I did subduing the creature."

From her spot on her back being slobbered on by Manbari Lanaura flicked a strange, no doubt very rude, hand gesture involving a single finger in the direction of Morrigan's voice.

A swishing of flaps drew everyone's attention to one of the nearby tents. Elsa had decided to make her appearance. She was clearly still asleep for the most part, all groggy eyes and hunched posture.

"What's goin on?" She mumbled.

She blearily took in the scene of the rest of the group surrounding a strange looking woman being licked by Muffins. Every single head was turned in her direction.

A couple seconds of awkward silence later, Lanaura was the first to speak. "Hello gorgeous! What's your name?"

Elsa blinked a few times. Without a single word she turned around and disappeared back in to her tent, no doubt not wanting to know in the slightest.

Then Alistair tried to smother a laugh, which sent Lanaura off doing the same. Then Leliana found herself unable to hold back a giggle. This cascaded and amplified until Wynne, Alistair, Leliana, Kallian and Lanaura were all laughing like madmen, the tension of the evening draining out in one go.

Sten and Morrigan simply wandered away, content to let their companions revel in their insanity for a few moments.

Their laughing fit finished Wynne went to work on the Draenei woman, wincing slightly as she did so. "Oh my, Morrigan certainly did quite a number on you didn't she?"

"Yea, remind me to not fight any druids without armour again." Lanaura mumbled, clearly enjoying Wynne's ministrations.

Kallian couldn't blame her, being healed by Wynne was great.

"What's a druid?" Alistair asked, sitting down in front of her.

Lanaura stared at him. "Uh, Druid? Shape changer, nature magic? That kind of druid?"

"Morrigan is indeed a shape changer, but we don't call them Druids." Wynne, the available magic expert explained. "It's just another form of Magic. A thought lost form, but a form nonetheless."

"Huh. That makes sense, Humans couldn't be druids last I checked. Question, Where am I?"

Kallian was taken aback. "Ferelden, why?" She questioned.

"In what continent?"

"Thaedas?"

Lanaura groaned loudly. "Oh Light curse it, I'm in another world aren't I. Blasted Gnome…" She dropped her head into her hands.

The four remaining shared a quick look. "Another… World?" Leliana questioned.

"Yea… So, I wanted to surprise my sister so I took a portal to where she was living. The mage who cast it clearly mucked it up somehow. And because I'm not a mage, I have no idea how to cast portals, let alone reverse engineer some way back." Lanaura explained. "So one moment I'm steppin through a portal like I have a million times before, next thing I know I'm waking up in crazy pain at the top of a ruined tower in the middle of a _huge_ amount of monster corpses."

The elf and the man both flinched. They shared a look, but Lanaura had already continued.

"So I got a look outside through a huge hole in the wall and _corpses everywhere_. Huge ruin just filled with corpses. It was pretty messed up."

"Ostagar…" Alistair breathed.

Lanaura looked up at him. "You know the place? What the hell were those things anyway? The creepy lookin things?"

Kallian sighed. "Yea, you could say we know the place. We call those creatures Darkspawn."

Lanaura grunted. "Fits."

"You could say that. Normally their not too much of a problem, they tend to stick down in the Deep Roads."

"Deep Roads?"

"Old Dwarven tunnels, stretching across the entirety of Thaedas." Alistair supplied. "There's probably one a few hundred feet down from this spot."

Kallian made a small noise of agreement. "Yea. But, every so often they start pouring out onto the surface, truly massive numbers of them. They, under the command of an Arch Demon, swarm and try to wipe out life on the surface."

"We call it the Blight." Alistair cut in. "And we are smack dab in the middle of one right now. The fifth one, to be exact. Now, the King and his main armies mustered at Ostagar, one of the southernmost defences. Old Tevinter fortress. The idea was to break their forces there, or at least weaken them. The plan was, The King, the Grey Wardens, and half the army would hold the Darkspawn at the fortress, then Teyrn Logain and his men would charge and slam them from behind."

"Hammer and Anvil. Simple, yet effective." Lanaura mused. "Teyrn Loghain was the General I guess?"

Alistair spat in the dirt beside him. "Yes, he was. Long story short he quit the field. Took his men and ran, leaving the King, his men and the Grey Wardens to die. And die they did. Every single one of them…"

Alistair trailed off, his gaze drawn into the flickering flames of the campfire.

Kallian picked up the slack. "We were the ones who lit the beacon. If it weren't for the craziest circumstances you've ever known we wouldn't have had a chance at surviving that. Morrigan's mother turned into a giant bird and plucked me and Alistair off the top of that tower. Or so I'm told, I was knocked out just before that."

Lanaura shot her a look. "A Darkspawn filled tower was where I woke up in. Wait… You wouldn't have killed one of those big bastards by shoving a pair of knives into its face would you?"

"Oh, right. Yea I did do that. That was me."

Lanaura barked a laugh. "Nice! That was some good work!"

Kallian couldn't help but smile at the praise.

"So these Grey Wardens. You've mentioned them a couple times. What are they exactly?" Lanaura asked.

"That's us! Grey Wardens are an organization that dedicates their lives to fighting Darkspawn wherever they may be. Only the Wardens can stop a Blight once it has begun. Not sure why, but there you go. Unfortunately for us, Loghain's treachery killed nearly all of them in Ferelden. It's just the two of us now. But, that will be changing soon, at least I hope." Alistair trailed off.

Lanaura was silent for a few moments. "Fancy some help?"

When all she received is shocked looks she felt the need to explain. "Hm. Well I didn't expect that reaction. Look, I'm a _very_ good Warrior. I need to say that again, I am a _VERY_ good warrior. You saw that tonight. I have absolutely no idea where I am or how I got here, no prospects, no way home, and no idea what to do now. So joining up to fight monsters sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm in."

"Well if…"

"Done." Kallian interrupted. "We were actually set to complete the Joining tonight anyway. The blonde sleepyhead you saw earlier will be at the same time."

Lanaura brightened considerably. "Really? Wohoo, anything that gets me closer to that pretty tushy is my kind of deal."

It was a study in opposites, the reaction of the listening group.

Alistair spluttered heavily and blushed up a _storm_. Wynne just shook her head and muttered something about "kids these days."

Leliana shot the blue woman an analyzing look, as if reconsidering something.

Kallian's palm thumped into her face. A gesture she felt would be repeated many, many times over the coming months.

"Ignoring that… Well, we look forward to welcoming you into the Grey Wardens Lanaura."

Lanaura laughed quietly to herself. "If only this was the first time I've fought against countless monsters intent on wiping out all life…" She muttered.

"What was that?" Alistair broke in.

"Nothing. Nothing, don't worry about it."

Kallian eyed her for a moment before shrugging. Not her problem. They had yet another recruit and that was that.

Wynne finished healing up all the battering Lanaura took from Moribear and the group split apart to go back to doing their own things. Lanaura immediately flopped on her back and was asleep in moments. Kallian had to envy that ability.

Leliana and Wynne went back to their conversation, Muffins fell asleep right next to their new Draenei companion.

That left Kallian and Alistair to wander away from camp for a bit. They had a Joining potion to make.

* * *

The next thing Lanaura knew was a hand laying itself on her shoulder. Snapping awake instantly and working entirely on instinct she had a dagger in her hand and was half way through drawing it when she recognized who it was.

She let out a breath. "In future… Don't do that."

Alistair shrugged. "Whatever you say. I'll wake you up with a stick next time shall I? Throw a rock from the other side of camp?"

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Point taken."

His voice grew serious. "Cmon. Elsa's already awake. It's time."

* * *

He lead her a few minutes away from camp, refusing to answer her questions, not that they were all that pressing.

Eventually they stepped into a small clearing where the theify elf girl and gorgeous blonde were waiting. A couple torches were set up, throwing what light they could.

Kallian was holding a silver chalice and looking very serious and Elsa was looking exceptionally nervous.

"Yeesh. The way you act, it's like someone died. What's with the long faces?" Lanaura asked.

Neither Warden responded, they simply shook their heads in sadness. For them, this was a very solemn moment. They weren't sure if either of their recruits were going to be walking back to camp with them tonight. Or ever.

"And so we come to the Joining." Alistair started his voice still uncharacteristically serious. "I won't lie. The Joining is dangerous. You are called upon to submit yourself to the Taint, for the greater good. You may not survive."

Lanaura and Elsa glanced at each other. Lanaura didn't outwardly react, Elsa still looked pretty nervous.

_And how she makes looking scared gorgeous I'll never know…_ Lanaura couldn't help but think.

Kallian nodded. "We speak only a few words prior to the Joining, but they have been said since the first."

"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant. Join as we carry the duty that cannot be foresworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day, we shall join you"

She paused for a moment, then held out the cup to Elsa. "Elsa, Step Forth."

The mage swallowed audibly. With only a seconds paused her eyes hardened. With a determination none of them had seen before from her she stepped forward and accepted the chalice.

"From this moment forth, you are a Grey Warden." Alistair intoned.

Elsa put the cup to her lips and drank.

One mouthful, that was all it took. The cup was quickly lifted from her hands, the reason why becoming quite evident very soon. Elsa started shaking, then convulsing. She fell to her knees and let loose a silent scream, her eyes turning milky white.

Then like a puppet with its strings cut she collapsed.

Immediately Kallian was over to her, checking the girl's condition. "Oh thank the Maker…" She said after a moment, her voice betraying all the horrible tension she had built up. Elsa would be fine.

But the Joining was not yet complete. Alistair held the chalice in his hands out to Lanaura, who was still eyeing the collapsed mage. "Lanaura, step forward."

The Warrior did, taking the cup gently in her hands. "What's in this stuff anyway?" She asked, her voice showing only cool curiosity and not the nervous/scaredyness that one would expect.

Mentally shrugging, Alistair responded. "Darkspawn blood, Lyrium and a drop of Archdemon blood."

"You've mentioned that before, this… Archdemon. What is that exactly?"

"It's what leads the Darkspawn during a Blight. A corrupted Old God."

Lanaura snorted. "Corrupted Old God… That's an oxymoron if I ev…_WHAT?" _

Both conscious Wardens jumped in surprise at her yell. "What, what is it?" Alistair asked.

"You have _Old Gods_ on this planet!" She gasped, horror evident in her voice.

At Alistair's nod she cursed long and loud in her own tongue. "Of course they're not just restricted to Azeroth… Noooo _that_ would be _easy_! No they had to be _more_!" She continued her rant in common.

"Fuck it! I drink this, and I can kill it right?"

Both Wardens, still taken aback at her sudden change in demeanor nodded.

Not another word was said. Lanaura simply gripped the chalice harder and slugged back the Joining potion in one go.

The chalice fell to the ground from shuddering fingers. "All right!" Lanaura gasped, already feeling the effects of the vile potion. "Let's kick some tentacly butt!"

And then in one great arc, like a massive tree being felled, she collapsed onto her back.

Alistair checked her over, and sighed in relief. "She's going to be Ok." He told his companion. "And would you look at that, we have doubled the number of Grey Wardens in Ferelden. Good job team."

Kallian only facepalmed again. With determined fingers she gathered what was left of the joining potion into two small pendants and stowed them away in her pocket. From there, they could only wait until their newest Grey Warden sisters awoke.

And so, there were four. Two new wardens. Despite everything that had happened, despite the monumental task they had yet to accomplish… Kallian couldn't help but feel optimistic.

* * *

**Translations:  
**  
_Chethma, Akata'eras! Efto Tor oche kaso! Ein te neomeno, thuma chethma!=_Wait Rogue! This is not good! I'm sorry! Please, wait!

_Octethi?= _Mercy?


	3. And so, it begins

Hello, Hello, Hello! Welcome back to Dragons, Wardens and Warriors! I am Lucky Fractal and these are my words.

So, funtimes. I actualy have had this done for a solid week and a bit. But my PC has been in the repair shop for a while now. I hope 6.6k words of Lanaura wackyness helps ease that wait just a tad. But it's here now, so Enjoy!

And to answer those who have been asking, Yes indeed, Elsa the Frost Mage is a not-so-sly nod at Frozen. I have plans for her, and i like how a character like her can fit into this universe. Look forward to it!

Reviewers! -

**Etheral-23 : **Thanks man! Have a chapter, on me! I'll just say that Lanaura is a very opinionated space goat, she will have views on things. _Strong_ views. Should be fun yea?

**Novice :** Glad I didn't! And I hope this dosen't either! We have a lot of story to go man, you never know! And yea. Danny is full of rubbish. Ignore him :P

**Danny :** You know man, I was going to put a character of yours into my fic man. I mean c'mon. We've been friends for _years_ now. But nooooooo. You just had to be a _you_ didn't you. So... NYEH. (Danny is a friend fellas, dun worry about him :P)

**Wurtheren : **Yes indeed they do live for that long. How the Taint affects our brave heroine is yet to be revealed sir. You will have to wait and see :P

**Jgkitarel :** _Very_ familiar. Hope you like it.

Anway now, Read, Favorite, Review (I squee a little at every single one) and i'll see you next chapter! Tootles!

* * *

The dreams were horrible.

Screaming, corrupted dragons, crazy Darkspawn, Old gods, Death, dismemberment, gore. You know, all the fun stuff.

But it did make a rather novel break from her usual nightmares of...

Screaming, the Litch King, crazy Dragons, Old Gods, death, dismemberment, gore. You know, all the fun stuff.

That didn't stop them sucking tho.

So when the crazy corrupted dragon lunged for her, jaws snapping down on her face she gasped and snapped awake. The two Wardens were looking down at her in concern, but when her eyes snapped open they both just looked relieved.

"You made it. Welcome." Kallian quietly informed.

"By all things Light, let's _never_ do that again…" Lanaura groaned, hand immediately going to her head.

The Wardens chuckled. "Fortunately, that won't be necessary. You only need to drink Archdemon blood once. Otherwise you'd have a revolt on your hands." Alistair joked.

"Yes well, thank the Nar'ru for that." Lanaura groused. With the two Warden's help she got to her feet, a little shaky but nothing she couldn't handle.

Elsa was already awake it seemed, looking only slightly the worse for wear. "You ok gorgeous?" Lanaura asked.

Elsa shyly looked away, a small blush heating her cheeks. But she did manage to nod her reply.

"Oh look at you, you're adorable! But I don't think we've been properly introduced, have we? I just dropped into camp and beat up half of your group."

Alistair spluttered his indignation. "We did just fine _thankyouverymuch!_ And it's your group too now. Don't forget that."

Lanaura chuckled. "Yes, yes sweetie I know. Anyway gorgeous, where was I… Oh yea. My name's Lanaura, Champion of the Frozen Wastes…. And, Grey Warden now I guess. What would yours be? Because I'm quite happy to just keep calling you Gorgeous if you insist." She added with a flirty tone and stuck out her hand for the other woman to shake.

Elsa's blush only intensified. Light, if this is how she got with such light flirting, she must be so very sheltered.

_Not for long…_

"I'm Elsa. Mage and Grey Warden now, I guess." She quietly replied, taking the offered hand. She managed to meet the Warrior's good humoured gaze which was a good sign.

"Mage huh. Fantastic! It's not a good party without a Mage. So, what now?" Lanaura directed her question to the two more senior Wardens.

"Right now, it's back to the camp for food and sleep. Tomorrow, we continue on to try and find the wandering Dalish Elves. We have a treaty that compels their assistance during a Blight. From there we have some choices, but it's not that important right now." Kallian explained

At the mention of food, the two newest Wardens' stomachs both rumbled loudly in stereo.

"Well. I suppose food sounds pretty good now that you mention it…" Lanaura said, patting her stomach good naturedly.

Kallian and Alistair both laughed quite loudly. "Oh yes, that happens. That's one of the 'perks' of Wardenhood. Huge appetite. Especially when you're new." Alistair explained. "Luckily we still have some soup left at camp."

A beaming smile lit Lanaura's face. "Food! So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She cried before dashing full tilt back in the direction of camp.

Leaving behind three very bemused wardens, who followed briskly in her wake.

* * *

The three found Lanaura sat by the fire, eyeing the pot of leftover stew with something resembling confusion.

"Is there a problem?" Kallian had to ask.

"This is supposed to be _food?_ You _ate_ this?" Lanaura asked, her voice full of horror.

Leliana, who along with Wynne was seated across the fire, suppressed a snort. She had said something quite similar the same evening.

"What's wrong with my cooking? It's just fine! The others enjoyed it, Right guys?"

Silence. Pure, unbroken silence. Kallian and Elsa even shuffled away from him slightly.

"Oh come on it's not that bad!" Alistair hotly tried to defend himself.

"It's grey Alistair. Your food is _grey_." Kallian reminded as she and Elsa plonked themselves down next to their new Draenei Warden.

"Yea but.. but that's just traditional Ferelden cooking!" Alistair whined, crossing his arms.

"If this is a typical example of Ferelden cooking, no thanks. I'll take Pandaren banquets any day of the week…" Lanaura muttered.

"Oh yea? Well we don't have any of that do we? So if you don't like what I cook then you can just do it yourself! Nyeh!" Alistair ranted, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Who said we don't have Pandaren banquets? I have a bunch right here." Lanaura cocked a confused eyebrow, pulling a small orange bag up and shaking it at him. It was about the size of an average coin purse.

"You have banquets… In there? You're joking right? This is a joke?"

Lanaura decided to not respond to Alistair's childish taunting. Instead she simply placed the bag on the ground.

Where it tripled in size without warning.

"What!" Everyone save Lanaura herself shouted.

Still ignoring them, Lanaura simply reached her _entire arm_ into the bag and pulled out a table of all things. A table stacked so high with food it made Kallian's mouth water.

"Oh yea, who's the boss. I'm the boss." Lanaura taunted the dumbstruck Alistair, throwing the Templar the same gesture she'd flashed Morrigan.

"What kind of magic is that?" Wynne interrupted Lanaura's victory dance. Her voice was utterly shocked and came out in not much more than a breath.

Lanaura looked around at the assembled people, seeing the exact same looks of sheer wide eyed, slack jawed astonishment repeated on each and every face.

"What, what? It's just simple enchantment; any good adventurer worth her salt has the same thing. Makes traveling so much easier, I can tell you." She explained. Poorly.

Elsa was the first to recover. "Um, No. No we… We don't have that kind of magic. But it's amazing!" She replied.

"Wait, so you have to carry all your armour, weapons, camping supplies 'n stuff… In just, normal bags? Oh my god I can't tell you how sorry I am…" Lanaura breathed, her expression comically shocked.

"Yea well, we don't all come from another world do we? Some of us are just normal people with _normal_ supplies and _normal_ magic." Alistair grumbled.

"Wait, Armour, weapons? How much do you have in that exactly?" Leliana asked.

"Hmm. Good question. Lemmie have a look…"

Lanaura pulled the bag open wide and stared at the unfathomable bottom. "Two different sets of armour, three sets of my own personal weapons, blacksmithing supplies, mining pick, fishing rod, buncha spare meat, cooking supplies, ten more Pandaren banquets, fifteen Epoc stones, more Ghost Iron than I can shake a stick at, buncha Trillium ore, ten Spirits of Harmony, few stacks of useful potions, my mounts, my pets aaaaaaand…. Two hundred and five thousand gold pieces. Amongst a bunch of other stuff I can't be bothered telling you right now." She finished.

Wide eyed, slackjawed Astonishment was becoming a fairly common occurrence. Even on Morrigan's face, she herself had wandered over at the smell of decent food and caught the entire thing.

Sten was busy devouring as much food from the banquet as he could. Sten didn't care.

"But yea, that's not so special. Why are you looking at me when there's food there? I for one am _Starving!_" Lanaura admonished before turning away and stuffing her face with delicious Pandaren noodles.

"Two hundred and five…" Alistair whispered in absolute disbelief.

The remaining party looked at each other and all came to the same decision. They all simultaneously gave up. Not even going to bother asking.

Without a word, they all gathered around Lanaura's table and ate to their hearts content.

* * *

Bellies full and tensions eased, the party lounged about the fire in darkness, more at ease than they had been for ages. Something about stuffing themselves to the brim from a table that seemed to never run out of food no matter how much they ate just relaxed everybody.

"That was… _Amazing_…" Leliana sighed in contentment.

The rest all heartily agreed.

"I've decided!" Kallian called from her place on her back. "Lanaura is now party chef!"

The heartfelt yells of agreement split the cooling night air. Lanaura laughed heartily at the praise. "Oh stop it you guys… You'll make me blush!"

"That was the best food I have ever tasted. The Arishok him self's own chefs are not nearly as accomplished." Sten countered. Sten never lied.

"Aww. Aren't you just the nicest thing? How about desert?" Lanaura giggled. From her magic bag she pulled a bowl full of something white, cold and creamy looking, with a spoon to go along with it.

"Here, try it."

Sten carefully took the confection. "What is this?"

"That my fine man is Ice Cream." Lanaura explained with a massive smirk.

Sten scooped a spoonful of the frozen delicacy, popping it carefully in his mouth.

The party watched in awed curiosity as Sten's face immediately melted in rapture as the exceptionally sweet vanilla flavour flowed over his taste buds.

"I… I cannot find the words to explain this. It is… Exceptional." Sten commented at last, his normally monotone voice filled with emotion.

He locked eyes with Lanaura. "I would follow you anywhere Kadan. My blade is yours." He straight up told her, bowing in respect.

Lanaura could only laugh hard and long. "Yea, that's ice-cream for you. Soothing the savage beast." She gasped a length. "And I shall accept your loyalty. For now, we follow the elf. But one day, I may call call upon you… And on that day we shall take control of this country, and then the WORL_*SMACK*_Ahhhh.."

Lanaura trailed off, clutching the side of her head. Elf palm introduced to the side of Draenei head at high speeds tends to interrupt trains of thought rather effectively.

"No using my Qunari for your crazy schemes." Kallian scolded her. "I need him."

"Not forever!"

Kallian face palmed.

"Do the rest of us get any?" Alistair asked eagerly.

They hardly saw him move. One moment Sten was enraptured by soft milky goodness, the next he had his great sword pointed directly between the Templar's eyes, challenge evident in his gaze. The "to the death" kind of challenge.

Alistair gulped. "_Oooooorrrrr_… Ok, no problems big guy. Don't worry, its _aaalllll_ yours." He nervously backed off.

With a grunt, Sten's great sword was removed from between Alistair's brows. "Then I foresee no future problems."

He returned to his bowl with nary another word said.

Lanaura leaned in and stage whispered into Elsa's ear. "I can't wait until I introduce him to cakes."

Kallian groaned and face palmed.

* * *

The group chatted for a while after that, Lanaura being properly introduced to everybody. Lanaura and Elsa were congratulated for their successful Joining.

Lanaura asked a couple questions about Ostagar and Ferelden, where Leliana's accent was from and "Why in Light's name did it sound so sexy, was it magic?", what the Grey Wardens actually did (Maybe jumping feet first upon hearing the words "Old God" maybe sorta wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done,) where they were heading and what they hoped to find there and various other light topics.

By then, it was very late. The group broke up and vanished to their various tents/bedrolls, cautiously optimistic about their future.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Actually, no. That was a total lie. It dawned grey and miserable.

Until of course Lanaura cooked breakfast. Then they agreed it might be the best morning ever.

Loath though she was to remove her snuggly traveling clothes, Lanaura decided it was best to start traveling in her armour like the rest of the group. Apparently they had been attacked frequently while on the roads by everything from Darkspawn to wolves to the average bandit.

It wasn't like she was unused to traveling in heavy plate, it's what she usually did after all. But it was cold dammit!.

As Lanaura stepped out of Kallian's tent, the use of which she had begged off the woman to get changed in, the Warden's party stopped once again in awe at the Draenei woman.

Lanaura openly smirked at the reaction, the expression visible to all due to her usual habit of not wearing the helmet, ever. (It messed up her hair, couldn't have that) Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's armour was tad… different.

The muted grey metal and bright, ice blue etchings in Vrykul design stood out starkly compared to the heavy chain, scale armour and leathers. Each shoulder guard was a stylized boar's head rearing proudly. Lanaura was also one of the few females she knew who had extended the chest plate to actually lock in with her leg guards, not leaving a large chunk of her stomach exposed.

Lanaura was good, maybe even very good. But having that much exposed vial organ just kind of seemed silly. It was a little comforting to see that Mages didn't wear armour here either. So things weren't completely out of whack.

Along with the brutal looking armour Lanaura had chosen to go with her sword and board. The elegant Enchanted Shao-Tien Sabre and brutal Bulwark of the Fallen General. Two weapons she had… acquired… during the assault on Orgrimmar. The Shield, to honour the loyalty and bravery of the Orc she had taken it from, General Nazrgrim. And the Sabre… It was pretty, what could she say. And the blue flame of the shield matched the blue etchings in her Armour. Again, what could she say?

The party refused to believe her gear was actually quite _plain_ compared to most. But then again, when you've seen shoulder guards the size of Sten's arm, everything's rather toned down.

After the requisite questioning about her weapons and armour, where she got it and the like, the party finished breaking camp and moved out. Lanaura discovered that Bodhan and Sandal, who she had been introduced to the previous night, were splitting from their group and heading east to Orzammar, capital of the Dwaven nation. She was a little sad to see them go, Sandal was just a little cutie. He'd gasped mightily and giggled in pure glee when Lanaura had given him her sword to examine.

She'd never heard the word "enchantment" used so frequently. She made a mental note to introduce him to one of her enchanter friends if she got the chance. Might blow the kid's mind.

* * *

It only took an hour on the road for Lanaura to get _fed up_. "Ok, that's it. No more." She stated, stopping completely.

The party all regarded her. "What's the problem?" Kallian asked, the exasperation in her voice very clear.

"I'd forgotten how awful walking everywhere is. I haven't had to do that in years. You don't have mounts?" She questioned.

"We don't have any horses or the coin to buy them Lanaura. We've been running on whatever we can loot from whatever blighters we kill for the last month." Kallian sighed.

Lanaura brightened. "Well you have me now! I'm not exactly bad off you know."

"You said something along the lines of two hundred thousand sovereigns? That's enough to supply a small army for... I don't even know how long. Even the nobles of Val Royeaux couldn't claim to have ever seen that much money." Leliana stated.

"Really? Cause it's not that much where I came from. I mean I'm pretty well off, better than most, but I'm not that rich. But that's beside the point. I refuse to have to walk everywhere. And you're in luck. I'm guessing you can all ride well enough?"

Lanaura got nods from everyone except Morrigan and Elsa. "I cannot ride, but I can keep up well enough in my wolf form." Morrigan assured at Lanaura's questioning gaze.

Lanaura nodded. "That solves that problem then. And of course, I dont need a mount for Muffins... All right guys, cm'ere and take one of these. No questions now just do it." She called.

The party warily talked over and were all given a strange stone from Lanaura's bag.

Elsa was waved away, with a hurried "you get yours in a sec" as an explanation.

"Ok, rub it and think of a horse." Lanaura instructed.

Within a couple of seconds there were several poofs of smoke, a chorus of horsy noises, and humanoid gasps.

When the smoke cleared everyone sat astride proud Stormwind horses of differing colours and breeds, some with armour and some without. "How did you…?" Wynne whispered in wonder, grabbing the mane of the horse under her and feeling it as if to prove to herself it was real.

"Exactly the same way Sweetie vanished last night. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Pocket dimension mount storage is quite possibly the best thing ever." Lanaura explained with a smirk on her face.

"How many of these things do you have?" Kallian gasped.

"A lot. And every one of 'em can be summoned and dismissed on a whim. Now you see why I don't like walking." Lanaura laughed.

"This… This can cut our travel time by half or more!" Leliana gasped. "This is fantastic!"

The chorus of agreement couldn't have been more sincere. Even Sten's lips might have twitched. Maybe. Could have been a trick of the light, you never know.

"Um… What about me?" Elsa piped up in that quiet voice of hers.

Lanaura looked her over. "Hmm. Well you can't ride a horse, so I would seriously doubt you could ride a Night Saber or Dragon Turtle."

At Elsa's raised eyebrow she explained. "Big cat and bigger turtle. And don't look at me like that those turtles are _fast_."

Elsa could only shake her head.

Lanaura looked her over, cocking her head. "Hmm. Normally I'd just have you ride with me on my Tundra Mammoth or Travellers Yak, but we're going to be in a forest so they'd be too big. What to do…" She trailed off.

"Aha!" She exclaimed after a few seconds.

Hand diving back into her bag she pulled out a… Key?

The Draenei stroked the metal with a mad smile. After a second and another puff of smoke a fearsome roaring filled the clearing, like the warcry of some demonic beast.

When the smoke cleared, Lanaura was revealed, lounged on the seat of a… something… with a titanic smirk on her face.

"Andraste's _tits_! What is that!" Wynne gasped.

Every single head turned in her direction, surprise on their faces. "What? I was young once!" She defended. "And I think that deserves something a little stronger than usual."

Lanaura couldn't hold it in any more. She cracked up laughing, clutching her stomach and pointing in their general direction. "Haha! You should have seen the…! The looks on your faces!" She managed to force out in between guffaws.

Kallian facepalmed.

Alistair groaned. "You know… It's going to get to the point where nothing will surprise me. She's going to do stuff like this to the point where I just won't react anymore. Honestly, I can't wait."

The rest of the party quietly agreed.

After Lanaura composed herself, she started explaining what it actually was that she was sitting on. "This my friends is a Mekgineers Chopper. An absolute wonder of modern Gnomish engineering. As for how it works, I have absolutely _no idea_."

Kallian wasn't the only one who facepalmed this time.

"But!" Lanaura happily continued. "I know that it works. And it hasn't ever blown up on me. So what's going to happen is, you are going to be riding this with me." She finished, flashing Elsa a smile.

Elsa didn't exactly look in the smiling mood. "Wait, I'm going to be riding that? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Hey, trust me. It's perfectly safe. All you need to do is hop on and I'll do everything else. Have a little faith, yea?" She put a reassuring hand on the Mage's shoulder.

Elsa sighed. "Ok."

With a happy smile, Lanaura pulled the woman over to her, directing her to sit behind her and where to put her feet. "Now wrap your arms around my waist and hold on tight. This is going to be fun!"

Elsa quickly followed the woman's instructions, her head resting against the cool armour between the much taller woman's shoulder blades.

"All right! Let's go!" The happy Draenei yelled, gunning the Chopper. With another roar the back wheel spun faster than the eye could see, digging a large trough into the soft ground. All of a sudden the wheel found its grip, and the chopper was sent launching forward.

The party were left in its wake, listening to the sounds of Lanaura's manic laughter and Elsa's panicked yelling at her to slow down fade away.

And trying not to laugh at a cursing mud splattered Alistair.

After a moment, Kallian and Wynne looked at each other.

"She had absolutely no idea where she's going does she." Wynne sighed.

"None at all."

* * *

One week later:

It had seemed like such a great plan at first. I mean they had this treaty thing from ages back that allowed them to demand the blighting, prancy, flighty, racist buggers help them out.

I mean how hard could it be?

Step 1: Find the Dalish.

Step 2: Get their help.

Step 3: Profit.

Ah, but therein lies the problem. _Finding the buggering elves!_

A week they'd spent in this blasted forest by Kallian's count. A week going here and there and everywhere searching for signs that the elves had been there recently.

Even with Lanaura flying high above the treetops on Sweetie they had proven elusive. It made her wonder just how exactly the City elves she knew that had left the Alienage in search of the clans had fared.

Hopefully better than they had.

The week had passed without conflict, well, from within the party at any rate. The two new Wardens had been given a trial by fire a couple days into their ride, there had been an attempted Darkspawn ambush in the forest.

Lanaura and Alistair proved to be a fantastic team of "meat-shields", or so Lanaura had referred to the two as. She was apparently quite used to working in tandem with another heavily armoured sword and board, punchy drunk person, absorby two hander person, or _bear_.

The whole "Tanking" idea had taken some time to explain and Lanaura had done a remarkably _poor_ job of the whole thing.

That discussion had lead onto discussions of the various specializations that combatants in Azeroth chose or "classes" as Lanaura had referred to them.

Now all that made sense, talk of Druids, Mages, Priests, Paladins and the like all were clear enough. The only problem was, Lanaura couldn't give details. At all. Aside from summaries like "Good with range and has a thing for animals, don't use weapons like normal folk, dying only ended up pissing them off, hears rock voices, turns into animals and does _everything_, and stun, stun, stun, stun, VANISH… " the blue woman refused to give any further detail.

She could explain about all things Warrior however. And did so. _All the time_. Kallian was of the persuasion that Lanaura had honestly never bothered herself to learn anything about how her companions fought aside from if she_ needed_ to know, so she could continue hitting things to the best of her ability.

An ability which, Kallian had to admit was exceptional.

The small band of about twenty Darkspawn had rushed them from the woods. But instead of the unwary, unprepared travelers the mindless beasts were expecting they ran headlong into a prepared wall of spell and steel.

Morrigan and Elsa had done their job, thinning their ranks with brutal Blizzards and Fireballs. When the less than ten remaining Darkspawn got in range they were swiftly dispatched, falling nigh instantly to the combined efforts of the two Tanks, Sten's great sword and Kallian's short blades. It had ended up being rather cathartic, taking all the frustrations of the last couple days out on some evil creatures.

Which was good. Because they'd be killing a lot of them by the end of this whole ordeal.

The group had adjusted to the new member quite quickly. Lanaura was of course quite friendly with Leliana, bonding over talk about hair care very quickly and had become fairly fast friends.

She found Alistair exceptionally fun to tease it seemed. Thus, she did so. A lot. Kallian felt a little sorry for the man. If it was possible for a man to give himself a tan from the heat of his blushes alone, Alistair was going to be that man.

Not that Alistair was the only one on the receiving end of her not so subtle flirting. Elsa, the poor girl, was as well. Being reminded of the fact that she spent hours a day with her hands wrapped around the Draenei's waist made her blush as hot as Alistair. But despite that Elsa seemed quite friendly with her fellow Warden, or as friendly as she was with anyone at least. The closed off mage had still proven unable to relax around them, which worried Kallian slightly.

Wynne was treated with a healthy respect, Lanaura sighting that "Pissing off the people who keep you alive is never a good idea".

In regards to the stoic Qunari of their group, he and Lanaura got along better than Sten and Anyone. They were often seen together, silently enjoying each other's company or discussing warrior things that Kallian didn't understand. It also didn't hurt that Lanaura was the one supplying him with sweets.

Speaking of the head elf, Kallian found herself unable to be distant with the beautiful blue woman. She was happy, quick witted, friendly, unafraid of offering her own opinion when asked (Or when not asked) undoubtedly useful, and a demon with her weapons. She and the Draenei had talked a few times the last week and she had found a real friend in the woman. Very early on Lanaura had insisted that she be called "Lan" because she had decided to never refer to her as anything other than "Boss" or "Kalli".

"We're friends right? That means Nicknames~!" She had singsonged.

Even Morrigan had been subjected to 'the Lanaura treatment'. Kallian had asked how well Lanaura got along with the prickly apostate. She had replied with "I've had the type before. She's a good woman underneath all the bluster, I think. She'll come around."

So here they were, waiting for Lanaura to get back from another of her scouting flights with Sweetie.

Oh look, there they are now.

With a flare of her massive wings Sweetie landed with a thud a few dozen feet away. She was quickly dismissed and vanished. Lanaura excitedly started running over to their small camp. Good news at last it seemed!

"Got em!" Lanaura yelled, the group perking up instantly at her happy tone.

"Where." Kallian instantly demanded, already starting to pick up her gear.

"About two miles south!" She informed, pointing out the way.

"Good work. Alright guys, let's move out! Start packing your things, we'll move out as soon as Alistair and Wynne get back." Kallian ordered.

They ended up not having to wait long. The two wayward party members returned by the time they'd broken camp. They were riding hard, grim looks on their faces. Bad news it seemed.

"Kallian! Has Lanaura gotten back yet?" Alistair asked, out of breath as he and Wynne pulled up beside her. She frowned, the horses were agitated and flighty. She'd never seen them like that before, even during a bandit attack a few days ago.

"Yea, she got back a few minutes ago. We found the Dalish at least, they're about two miles from here. What's the problem?"

"About three miles east, I felt something. Taint, coming from a cave in the middle of a set of ancient ruins."

Kallian growled. "Darkspawn?"

Alistair shook his head. "No, not Darkspawn. It's different… Like a constant pulse, just… spewing out of the entrance. I'm glad we found the Dalish but I think we should investigate. We didn't go in, Wynne thought we should return with everyone."

Kallian nodded. "Good. We have no idea what we might find. Grab some water and get ready to ride back out."

Turning away she called the rest of the group to attention. "Everyone listen up, change of plan! Alistair's just informed me of a Tainted cave not far from here. And not the Darkspawn kind of Taint, another kind. We're going to find out more. Get ready for a fight, we don't know what we're walkin into!"

Grim nods all round followed. Except for Lanaura. Who instead smiled. Evilly.

* * *

They chose to not ride very hard, the day was young and no-one save Lanaura was particularly excited at the prospect of combat. After an hour or so, the Wardens started to feel it. The deep, malevolent _wrongness_ of the taint.

Kallian called a halt, suggesting they proceed on foot for now. It would be easier to react to sudden threats while not mounted.

So the group all dismissed their rides and readied their weapons, continuing on.

The found the cave a few minutes later, exactly as Alistair had described. It made the Wardens feel filthy even being near it. Even the non-Wardens in the party were feeling the bad juju.

The team grimly formed up, weapons were readied, and they pushed forward into the cave.

Only to have Lanaura immediately trip and fall on her face.

She started cursing violently, but that just meant she was going to be fine. Naturally, Kallian and the rest looked down to see what exactly had tripped the tall woman.

A foot. A foot was what she had tripped over. A foot belonging to a leg, which belonged to the unconscious Dalish elf propped up in a recess in the cave wall.

Wynne, ever the healer, was very quick to jump in and check her over, hands glowing. Her eyes shot open. "This girl is alive!"

"She must be one of the Dalish from that clan. What should we do?" Alistair asked.

Kallian thought it over. "Ok. How is she Wynne?"

Wynne shook her head. "Not good. Alive, but not good. She'll die soon, unless we manage to get her proper treatment. If we can get her back to her camp, her Keeper and myself should be able to help." Was Wynne's prognosis.

"Hm. Lanaura?"

"Yes boss!?" Lanaura answered, jumping to her feet.

"Can Sweetie take more than one?"

Lanaura nodded. "Yea, I should be able to carry her with me. Take her back to her camp?"

"Fast as you can. And try not to scare them too much. We need their help. We'll be following as fast as we can. This cave can wait."

Lanaura snapped her fingers. "Got it. Don't worry boss, I got a way less scary lookin flying mount I'll use."

The big woman cradled the much smaller figure of their Dalish patient gently in her arms, hoisting up as if she were light as a feather. Which she was, really. The girl was _tiny_.

Wynne, on the other hand, was briskly grabbed and tucked under her other arm, much to her dismay and protest. Both her charges firmly in hand, Lanaura sprinted out of the cave.

Lanaura's hand dived into her bag of tricks, pulling out new mount stone. A flash, a puff of smoke and a squawk later she was sat astride a magnificent, snow white Griffon.

Wynne was dropped, and quickly remounted behind the Draenei, their charge still in the blue woman's arms. With a flare of pure white wing the Griffon launched itself into the air and out of the rest of the party's sight.

Alistair's gasping drew her attention as the rest of the party swiftly moved outside to chase the Draenei. The man himself was in shock it seemed, shakily pointing towards where Lanaura had been, jaw about floor level.

"She… Did you… She… But they… _Griffon_!" He managed to stutter out.

Kallian face palmed. Then, she shook her head and slapped the back of Alistair's own. "I don't know why anything she does surprises you anymore. We'll get an explanation from her later. Now let's _move_!"

* * *

"So why exactly did you feel the need to kidnap me?" Wynne shouted over the rushing wind, gripping very tightly to the Draenei woman. "And where exactly did you get a Griffon of all things?"

"Figured you and their healer might want to work together on this one. As for Griffons, they're a dime a dozen in Azeroth. And hey, you've never flown before right? Enjoy the ride!" She laughed, shifting the Dalish woman to sit better in her arms.

"No, no. I think I'm just going to keep my eyes shut and try not to fall off for now thank you." Wynne rambled with a shudder.

The fun part was they weren't even that far up, just a few feet from the tree tops. But Lanaura didn't comment, just kept her griffon on course for the Dalish camp.

As the cave receded behind her, Lanaura's face grew grim. She put a hand to their charge's brow. "Fuck!" She cursed after a moment.

"What, what is it!" Wynne demanded.

"Bloighting, Light cursed… I couldn't feel it before, that cave was overflowing with the Taint. It's the girl. she's been Tainted, badly. Like, really bad. As in, should have turned into a ghoul by now bad."

"And yet she has not..."

Grimly, they continued on towards the camp.

They were on it in moments, fortunately for Wynne. They cleared the treetops and shot straight for a small piece of open ground in the middle of the camp, heedless of the shouts and cries of the Elves below.

The Griffon landed with a thump, Lanaura lifted her eyes….

And stared down the points of a dozen knocked arrows aimed straight at her.

"Step away from our hunter, creature! We will shoot if you don't!" One yelled at her.

"You know, one day I'm going to land and not be immediately threatened, cajoled or assaulted." Lanaura muttered.

Wynne ignored her. "Hold, please! We and the rest of our party found this one in a cave not far from here. She has been badly wounded and needs treatment!"

"Enough! Stand down!"

The commanding voice cut over the hunters return shout. The shout came from a robed woman, older than the rest and carrying a staff that was running towards the griffon.

Upon reaching them the elf woman immediately put a hand to the sick woman's brow, frowning heavily. "Mahariel…"

Her eyes flicked up to them, guarded and tense.

"My name is Marithari, I am the Keeper of this clan. You found her you say?"

"Yes we did. She was in a cave not far from here. The rest of our party is coming by land; they should be here soon if you could warn your hunters." Wynne informed.

Marithari nodded. "Bring her into my Aravel, I will do what I can for her."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the situation was no better. In fact, it was a great deal worse.

Both Marethari and Wynne had been frantically working on the still unresponsive young Dalish woman. To no seeming effect. It was quite obvious that they were having no luck, but they refused to give up, just pouring more and more of their magic into the woman.

Mahariel… That was what her name was. Whether that was her first name or last Lanaura couldn't say. Lanaura had laid her on the Keeper's cot, which had been swiftly brought to the centre of the room to facilitate medic stuff.

Lanaura watched them work, feeling utterly useless. Give her a blade and a thing to kill she was unmatched. Here? She may as well have been part of the furniture. A sofa maybe, or a hunting trophy. She always did think her horns were valuable...

A flurry of motion from the corner of her eye drew her attention. Ah, it seemed like the rest of the party had arrived. Kallian sat down next to her, the only one seemingly been allowed into the Keeper's tent.

"How is she?" Kallian asked very quietly so as not to disturb the mages.

"Not great Boss."

With a world weary sigh and a curse in a language she did not understand, Marethari collapsed. "I am afraid I can do no more. The Blight sickness is overwhelming. She has shown such will, to hold on as long as she has. But I can do no more for her."

Wynne backed off slightly as well, hands returning to their non glowy normal. "The wounds and internal damage she had has been healed, but there is nothing I can do about the Taint." She explained for the two non-healer's benefit.

Both of the women looked exhausted, ready to drop. They had clearly done everything they could. But it had not been enough.

Wait… There was... _that_…

It had been a while, years upon years, but she should still be able to…

Yes… It was worth a shot at least!

Lanaura jumped to her feet and rushed over, dropping to her knees next to the Hunter's head. "I'm going to try something. I have absolutely no idea if it will work, but I feel as though I have to try."

"Of course, if it helps bring our hunter back to us. Please, continue." Marethari bid her.

Lanaura nodded to her. She turned back and closed her eyes, bringing her hands together in front of her chest, palms pressed against one another.

A deep breath in, a deep breath out. Then another, and another. She was ready.

Lanaura drew a knife from a hidden sheath, and with a flash of motion scored a gash across her palm. She then scored another gash in the hand of her patient, letting free distressingly black blood.

She gripped the limb tightly with her cut hand, letting the black and red blood mingle.

As she turned her focus inward, she was vaguely aware of a scuffle near her, of Wynne and Kallian's shouting. But all that was pushed aside in her mind as she turned her focus inward, towards that ever glowing font of light that every Draenei shared.

The Nar'ru had not forgotten them. And this gift was how they knew. With nary a moment's hesitation she grasped on the well of Light, and pulled.

The Gift of the Nar'ru rushed to her, filling her body with warmth and Light. In the outside world a sigil appeared in a glowing projection an inch above her forehead, the only outwardly visible sign she was pulling a miracle out of her ass.

She called to the Light within her, coaxed it forth and directed it, pushing it towards the connection between her and the dying elf. The Light seemed to sense the dark, malignant corruption in the girl and leapt to combat it.

The Light rushed into Mahariel, pushing back the Taint as it flowed into her veins. Where ever it went the Taint fled or was cleansed in the healing fire, unable to stand against the pure good of the Light.

But it wasn't enough. Her reserves waned all too soon, leaving much of the black Taint behind as it faded. But it had done enough for now. Mahariel would live for a while longer; long enough for what Kallian was probably already planning to do.

At last the Light faded. It receded back into her core, leaving behind a giddy, elated feeling.

Along with utter, bone weary exhaustion.

Lanaura returned to full consciousness, collapsing onto her back as the wave of weariness washed over her.

This feeling of both being exhausted and fulfilled was part of the reason she didn't use the Gift much. It felt way too much like orgasmic afterglow without any of the orgasm.

But all that was washed away when Wynne's decidedly unhappy face popped into her bleary view. She looked about ready to spit tacks. And the staff she pushed threateningly into Lanaura's cheek didn't help that image.

"You, _maleficar_, have much to explain."

Oh _Bloight_.


	4. Not a good night for a stroll

Author's Note:  
Good Evening Internets my name is Lucky Fractal and these are my words.

Wowzers. These chapters just keep getting longer. Soon i'll be breaking Eight Thou per. Yikes.  
But in any case, here is my newest chapter for your reading pleasure. Sit back, relax, and enjoy some luls.

Any and all instances of the Draenei language use the fantastically talented Eidthi's Draenei primer, a link to witch will be in my Profile. Check it out if that's your deal.  
A helpful translation will be provided at the bottom of the chapter, for your convenience.

Also, just noticed, but I broke one thousand views! Milestones! Wohoo! You guys are amazing. I hope to live up to the expectations you all have.

Yours Faithfully,

Lucky Fractal.

**Reveiws - **

**Novice - **I am using Oxhorn's curses. Glad someone grabbed that. He's amazeballs. :P  
Yes indeed, Sten was a widdle bit OOC, but hey. Ice Cream. If _anything_ is going to crack his stoic attitude, it's _Ice Cream_.

**Azralin - **Mkay. Here you are. :P

**Anonymoose Guest - **Oh you. I would have _loved_ to be able to respond directly back to you. If you're reading this, get a profile. Please. :P  
Yep, the contrast just _begs_ for comedy. And hell, I have a bunch of fun writing it, so why not right?

Now. Wynne.

You are right, Lanaura does work on a completely different plane than the rest of them. And Wynne understands that. Most of the time.  
But one must remember that Wynne is an Aequitarian. Not quite a Loyalist, but still pretty in to the whole 'blood mage=bad, no exceptions, and Magic=dangerous' spiel the Chantry likes to spout.

Wynne has been raised her _entire life_ to believe that blood mages are pure evil. She betrays you for example even after saving the circle if you happen to be a Blood Mage when you go there (and dont chose the right choices of dialogue. Warden Magic, lol.)

In the case of Lanaura's actions at the end of last chapter, she saw Blood, and Magic. And jumped to a very wrong conclusion. They have only known each other for just over a Week at this point, the sheer level of Lanaura hasn't quite sunk in yet :P

The little scuffle Lanaura hears is Kallian holding Wynne back from doing anything rash. _She_ understands that what Lanaura was doing was prolly completely different from what they thought. Then again, Kallian has no real opinion of Magic in general aside from 'it's useful.'

Hope that cleared things up enough!

**Qijong - **_I'm Boar Thrills, and i'm here to teach you how to survive in some of the harshest enviroments of Azeroth. On this episode, we're going to the horrible, brown, dog smelling country of Ferelden. Should be a challange._

Yes. Wowcrendor FTW. And Awww. Your warm fuzzies make Me get warm fuzzies. Enjoy your chapter my friend! :P

**Bandgsecurityaw - **Thanks! That was the idea.

* * *

"You, _maleficar,_ have much to explain." Wynne spat the strange word like it tasted bad.

Lanaura blinked at her and her unfamiliar word. "Lolwat?" she groggily questioned.

"Don't try to deny it, we all saw! Did you honestly expect to get away with using Blood Magic? In front of two experienced mages?" Wynne demanded incredulously.

Lanaura blinked at her again. "Ok, one, please move your staff. I'd have done it myself by now, but I can't move. Two, what in Velen's name is a maleficar? Can I eat it?"

She heard a groan from behind her head, and the becoming-unmistakable sound of Kallian's palm smacking her forehead.

"A Blood Mage, Lan." Kallian helpfully supplied from just out of her sight.

"Oh. Well then, what part of 'I'm not a mage' doesn't make sense to you?" Lanaura drawled as if explaining something to a small and particularly stupid child.

Wynne puffed up indignantly. "You used blood as a medium for _magic! _Plain as day!"

"No I didn't! I can't do magic, I'm _not a mage! _I _work_ for a living thank you very much. That's what we have you here for after all."

A gasp from out of her line of sight pulled the healer's attention away from her righteous indignation. "The sickness…. It's gone!" Marethari gasped.

Lanaura could hear the shuffle as Kallian moved over to the stricken elf's side. "No…" Kallian whispered. "No it's not. It's receded, but the taint is still there. Whatever Lanaura did, it wasn't quite enough."

"Hey Keeper? Does Mahariel know her way around a bow?" Lanaura interrupted.

"Yes in fact she does. She's our best hunter." Lanaura could hear the question in Marethari's tone.

"Oh good. Kallian, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I might just be."

"Would you mind clarifying for the old elf in the room?" Marethari stuck her oar in.

"She's still tainted." Kallian began, her tone deadly serious. "We have a way to cure it, mostly. But that involves becoming one of us. Becoming a Grey Warden. She will live, but she might not ever return."

Lanaura heard a small thump, as if Marethari had dropped wearily into a chair. After a moment Marethari replied, bone crushing weariness in her voice. "There is no other way?"

"None." Kallian solemnly stated.

"Then we have no choice do we. I thank you for coming when you did. Mahariel would not have survived without you. By any chance, did you find another? She left with another of our clan, Tamlen."

"No one else Keeper. I literally tripped over this one." Lanaura called from her spot still on her back. "And besides, if he was with her, he's probably bad off. And I can't call on the Narru's gift again for a while. He's probably dead, or very soon to be."

Talking turned out to be a mistake. Because it turned Wynne's attention back to her. "That's a good point. If not blood magic, then what exactly did you do? What _is_ this… 'gift?' This had better be good." She demanded, still pressing her staff into Lanaura's face.

"Whoa. Ok, sensing some srs hate for this 'blood magic' stuff. Alright, so skipping a long backstory because I'm too tired to bother, every Draenei has a small supply of healing Light that we can use. Us adventurers don't usually bother, we got healers coming out the wazoo. But it's still there in case of emergency. Like this one."

Wynne's frown wasn't a good omen. "Nothing good comes of a blood sacrifice."

"What blood sacrifice? My gift is keyed to my blood. I needed direct access to hers so I could channel my Gift to her. The Gift of the Nar'ru is not a regular healing spell, you can't cast it on others like Priests or Shaman can. I had to improvise, and it worked. The Light is _pure._ The Light is _good._ You have nothing to worry about, even though I have no idea why you dislike this 'blood magic' so much."

"I still don't think-"

"Enough!" Kallian interrupted the elder mage. "Wynne, whatever she did worked, I'm happy enough with that. And I didn't think I'd need to remind you that this is _Lanaura_ we are talking about here. She just _does_ things. Our world's ideas and concepts just don't apply sometimes."

"A source of much hilarity to myself if I might just add."

"Shut up Lan. Wynne, she helped. Leave it at that."

Wynne looked conflicted, but ultimately backed down. "Very well. You are of course correct. I am sorry Lanaura, I shouldn't have doubted you." She apologized, removing her threatening staff.

"Hey, no problem. Now, if you don't mind ima sleep now. That always takes it out of me."

As soon as those very words had passed her lips, she succumbed to exhaustion and passed out. And then, began snoring. Loudly.

The Warden, Mage and Elf just stared at her for a few seconds in silence. None were quite sure what to say.

"Is that… Normal… for her?" Marethari hesitantly queried.

Resisting the oh so very tempting urge to face palm Kallian spoke. "Unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea what _normal_ means for her. We're just along for the ride it seems." Kallian sighed. "Now, Keeper. I am afraid we have much to discuss…"

* * *

When Lanaura came to the Aravel was bathed in the dark of night, a single small torch the only source of illumination.

Then she realized she was still on the dirt floor. None of her friends had thought that maybe moving her might be nice of them. Nah, just leave her there, she'll be 'aight. Not like she has _feelings_ or anything.

Then again, she was pretty tall woman, wearing a lot of heavy armour. Come to think of it, could any of them sans Sten even lift her? Could _Sten_ even lift her?

Deciding the answer was probably no, she managed to lever herself up and to her feet with only a few grunts of protest. Then her eyes fell upon the small figure covered in blankets she had worked so hard to save.

She looked pretty peaceful in the flickering torchlight, a far cry from how tortured she had seemed in the grip of the Taint. Lanaura knew full well that the Taint was still there, hiding beneath the surface, but with a bit of luck that wouldn't be a problem much longer.

She had to admit the Elf woman was very cute. Having only gotten a good look at two Elves so far she couldn't help but draw comparisons between this woman and her Leader. They both had the pointed ears and angular facial structure of this world's Elves, features sharp as a knife edge. Although, this one's features were a bit softer than Kallian's.

Her most obvious feature was the intricate facial tattoos that stood out against her tanned skin. One long design that spread across her forehead and dipped slightly between her brows, one on each cheek that started from under her eye and flowed downward, and two branches underneath her lips. All perfectly symmetrical and rather alluring if Lanaura had to say.

Her hair was a nondescript light brown, pulled into a low ponytail as opposed to Kallian's short and spikey auburn. Her eyes, upon Lanaura's shameless investigation via lifting her eyelid, were a cool brown as opposed to Kallian's bright green.

A quick glance at muscular structure and the woman's calloused palm spoke of long hours training, probably with blade in hand as opposed to bow, despite Marethari's claims.

Interesting… She wasn't built like Kallian. Kallian was lithe, thin and flexible. Perfect for her chosen fighting style of dual light blades and fast strikes. Mahariel here was built like a Warrior, much more defined muscles.

From what she'd seen upon landing, none of the rest of the clan wore plate armour, but there were some heavy chain amongst all the leather and hide. Mahariel had been stripped of her Tainted chainmail during Lanaura's nap it seemed.

_Perfect!_ Lanaura mentally cheered. More frontline fighters were never a bad thing.

Suddenly, Mahariel groaned and shifted restlessly under Lanaura's scrutiny. Surprised, Lan stepped backwards to wait, just in case. After a couple moments of pained tossing and muttering Mahariel let loose a strangled scream and shot up, gasping for breath.

"Woah, woah, woah. Easy now, easy!" Lanaura was instantly at her side, gently pressing her back down. "You're ok, you hear me? You're ok."

Still trying to find her breath and not really seeing the Draenei, which saved some questions for the moment at least. She glanced around the Aravel. "Where… Where am I?" She murmured.

"You're back at your camp. When we found you, you were very sick. You had us very worried for a while there."

"My camp… Wait, who…?" Mahariel at last looked at who she was speaking to. "Dread Wolf what _are_ you!" She shouted in surprise, managing to fall out of bed in her shock.

"Woah there feisty-pants. You all right?" Lanaura moved over to help her, only to have her hand slapped away.

"I'm fine! And you didn't answer my question! Who are you?" She demanded.

"Eh, no skin off of my tail." Lanaura shrugged. She sat down and relaxed on Mahariel's now vacant bed, levelling her gaze at the elf. "My name is Lanaura, Champion of the Frozen Wastes and Grey Warden. And _that_ is one wicked scar. How'd you get it?"

The Dalish's eyes shot downwards, belatedly coming to the realization that she was in nothing but her smallclothes. Now the normal reaction to this would be to try to cover up, demand the viewer turn around, anything.

This particular Elf however didn't even blink, just traced a hand down the long, thick scar that started at her collarbone and trailed to the middle of her right side, dipping under the fabric of the woman's breast band as it did so.

"This? Shemlen bandits when I was six. Big bugger with a great sword. This one…" She pointed out another, smaller scar on her left side Lanaura hadn't noticed. "Another bandit attack, a few years ago. Thought I'd try and help. Didn't end up being much use, I could hardly hold a sword."

She turned her back on the Draenei, flicking a thumb over her shoulder. "Two arrow punctures below my right shoulder. Got them saving a kid from Tevinter shem three years ago."

Lanaura paused in her casual admiring of the Elvish woman's lovely shape silhouetted against the torchlight. "I'm sorry, Shemlen, shem?"

"Humans." The girl spat, her voice hard. "But you never did answer my question. What exactly _are_ you?" She continued in a far more amicable tone.

"Introduce yourself and I will do the same." Lanaura said with a laugh.

"Hm." Mahariel grunted. "Fine. Tia Mahariel, Hunter of the Sabrae Dalish clan."

"Lovely to meet you. Once again I'm Lanaura, and I'm a Draenei."

"Never heard of it."

"Didn't expect you to. But it doesn't really matter. How are you feeling?"

Tia paused, and seemed to give herself a once over. Standing up she stretched her arms over her head and tilted side to side, testing the elasticity of her muscles by stretching them thoroughly.

The sound of an appreciative whistle from behind her drew Tia back to earth. Turning back around to look at Lanaura, who was staring at her with an interested eyebrow raised.

"You realize the show you're giving me, don't you? If so, don't stop. It's great." The Draenei woman answered her silent question.

Tia just shrugged. "Eh, look if you want I don't care. Anyway, why do you care what I feel like?"

"Well, when we found you in that cave you were close to dead. Glad to see you were feeling better."

A dark expression flashed across her face. "That cave… I _told_ Tamlen leave the blasted mirror alone but _noooo_, he just_ had_ to touch it. Stupid bighting…" She trailed off. "Where is he anyway? He any better?"

Lanaura flinched. "About that. We didn't find anyone else. Just you." She nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

"What! But he… We have to find him, now!"

"No way feisty-pants! There isn't anything you can do right now anyway."

"She's right _da'len._" A familiar voice interrupted. Keeper Marethari strode regally into the Aravel and her eyes alit on Lanaura. "Ah, Warden. It is good to see you awake. And you as well Tia, you had us worried these last days."

"Wait, days? How long have we been out?" Lanaura questioned.

"Two days, Warden."

Lanaura flinched. "Wow, using the Gift never wiped me out _that_ bad before."

Marethari nodded. "Speaking of that, I haven't yet thanked you for saving my clansmen's life yet. _Ma serannas, _GreyWarden. The Sabrae Clan are in your debt."

Lanaura shifted in embarrassment. "_Kalason'edos, _Keeper. _Tiel octethi… _err, It was nothing."

"It was hardly nothing-"

"Yea, yea, this is nice and all." Tia angrily interrupted. "But what part of _Tamlen is missing_ do we not understand here! We need to be out looking for him _now!_"

"Enough _da'len!_ You have been asleep for days and if it weren't for the Warden's miracle you would be dead! You still need rest. Not only that, but it is the middle of the night, searching now would be fruitless. You may begin your search in the morning, and not a moment before!" Marethari laid down the law.

Tia was _not_ happy with that, it showed on her face plain as day. "_Ma nuvenin_ Keeper. As much as I dislike it." She grumbled after a moment.

"_Ma serannas lethallan. _In the morning the Wardens will go with you back to the cave. I'd have sent Merrill with you…"

"But she's with Keeper Zathrian's clan right now. Not like I'd forget…" Tia trailed off into a mutter.

"I know you miss your friend _da'len,_ but she is where she needs to be. I miss her as well you know…"

* * *

Lanaura slipped out of the aravel as Marethari started her own debrief about the ruins in the cave. The large clearing where the Sabrae were currently making their home was lit only by the light of a large bonfire in the middle of camp and the full moon above. Surrounding that fire was what seemed to be the majority of the clan, partaking in their evening meals and simply relaxing after a no doubt long day.

She was spotted straight away, and treated to a few happy cheers and some polite greetings. Clearly the story of what she had done to help save the life of one of their own had made its rounds already.

It was a far cry from being held at arrow-point at least.

But that was all pushed to the side when she realized what she'd forgotten to do. That was, dismiss the Griffon she'd flown here on.

The proud, majestic and splendid Snowy Griffon, the first flying mount that Lanaura had ever gained, looked so absolutely _done_ she couldn't help but giggle. If she had to guess, Snowdrop the Griffon was about 110% Done. The reason for that was the small crowd of children happily bouncing and playing on every inch of unhappy Griffon they could find. Clearly Griffon was more interesting than Draenei, because she was quite happily ignored by the youngsters.

He lay on his stomach, his Eagle head resting on his Lion's paws as he just let the bickering, babbling bubbly broodlings bounce boisterously on and around him. Luckily, Snowdrop liked children. Well, more than he liked anyone else at least. He wasn't a very sociable bird-lion thing.

It didn't take long for the harried griffon to notice his mistresses' presence. His eyes narrowed in accusation as he shot her a heated glare. The message was quite clear. "_You did this on purpose, didn't you…?" _

Lanaura's giggling was promoted into full blown, hand on stomach hysterics. This was not by any means planned, but having seen what had happened it was _so_ worth it.

Snowdrop exasperatedly rolled his eyes and let her laugh at him for a while. Eventually, he tired of her joy and squawked exasperatedly at her. The children all screamed at his sudden noise and tumbled off his back. Not that that stopped them, they just laughed harder and climbed back up.

But the squawk had done its job. Lanaura hustled her way over, still laughing. She dropped to her knees beside his beautiful plumed head and lightly stroked the feathers behind his ear, just the way he liked it. "Oh look at you, getting soft in your old age huh?"

Snowdrop's irritated grumble of a squawk was her reply. But he didn't stop her stroking.

"Haha, I know you old geezer, I know. I'll be back in a bit, just got to find the others. Bai!"

Quick as a flash she was on her feet and out of snapping range. She started walking away, desperately trying to supress her laughter (failing miserably) as Snowdrop's squawk full of betrayal followed her.

Lanaura cast her eye around camp, but to her dismay was unable to locate any of her party. Just elves, elves, elves, mage, elves… Wait, mage?

She smiled brightly as she focused on the mage in question. Sat a few meters out of the firelight and propped against a tree, Elsa Amell seemed deep in thought, deep enough to have missed her fellow Warden's enthusiastic greeting. Upon reflection, it was exactly where Elsa liked to be. Out of sight and out of mind. Well, she wasn't going to let that stand much longer. _No one_ was sad around the jovial warrior if she had her way about it. Depressing was so a couple centuries ago.

Lanaura would know. She lived it.

The fact that Lanaura desperately wanted to get into the shy girl's pants had nothing to do with it of course.

Instead of taking her usual route of popping out of nowhere and scaring the Light out of people when they didn't notice her, Lanaura strode slowly over, making no effort to hide her movements. Even that wasn't enough it seemed. Lanaura managed to make her way over and stand beside the woman without her realizing.

It wasn't until Lanaura leaned down and placed a light hand on her shoulder did Elsa stir. She jumped slightly at the unexpected contact, her gaze shooting up to come face to face with Lanaura's own softly smiling visage.

"Heya Snowflake. Copper for your thoughts?" She asked with a small smile.

"Lanaura! You're awake!" Elsa gasped softly.

"Eh, you know me. Nothing keeps me down for long." Lanaura replied with a small shrug and a laugh. She eased her armoured body down against the same tree with a small sigh. "I'll ask it again, copper for your thoughts?"

Sat at right angles meant that Lanaura couldn't see Elsa stiffen, couldn't see her face set in a hard line. But she could _feel_ it.

Lanaura let the silence hang for a few moments, giving Elsa a chance to reply if she wanted to. "It's all right, you don't have to tell me. It just seemed…"

"No!" Elsa interrupted. "No, it's fine. It's just… Not an easy subject."

It really wasn't. Elsa hadn't told anyone about this for years. Maybe it was the veil of darkness she hid herself in like a cloak that made her feel safe. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn't see the other woman's face. Maybe it was because even with all her teasing, her flirting and her mad tendencies, Elsa actually trusted the Draenei. But whatever it was, the words managed to escape her lips at last.

"I was… Thinking about my sister." She hesitantly explained.

"Oh? You have a sister?"

"Yes I do. She's younger than me by a little. But I haven't seen her in… over ten years now." She trailed off sadly.

"That long? Relationship problems?"

"No, it's nothing like that. We were so close as children, she was my best friend. I still miss her dearly."

Lanaura sensed a tale to be told. "Why not anymore?" She carefully and softly prodded.

Elsa opened her mouth to reply, but the words just seemed to stick in her throat. Whatever courage she found deserted her.

Luckily, Lanaura backed off. "Hey, its Ok. It's clearly not something you're happy with. You don't need to tell me right now."

The other woman shifted until she was sat next to the mage and draped an easy arm over her shoulder. "But if you ever need to talk, or need someone to help you I'll be there if you want me. Swear by the Light." She promised.

Elsa stiffened at the familiar arm, unused to casual touching as she was. She fought the unease and relaxed slightly. "I appreciate that Lanaura. Thank you."

Lanaura groaned unexpectedly. "What have I told you about that? Lan, Lana, Lanny, Lanfill, Lanrar, Light, anything! Anything but my full name. I'd think we were better friends than that, huh? If I give you a cute nickname like Snowflake, you have to be a little more familiar! I mean c'mon, I got Kalli doing it!"

Lanaura hesitated, and then she grimaced. "Actually, scratch Lanfill off that list. Let's not go with that."

Elsa couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up readily at Lanaura's antics. "Very well." She laughed. "I shall try, Lana."

The blue woman flashed a thumbs up. "Great!" She happily exclaimed.

Something Lanaura said came back into her mind. "Wait, why was 'Light' included in that list?" She questioned.

Elsa could feel the massive smirk on Lanaura's face. It did not bode well.

"Oh you know. As in "_Oh Light! Oh don't stop, don't stop!_" She moaned suggestively.

Instantly Elsa shoved the Draenei away from her, a hot blush already staining her features. "Ugh, you're incorrigible you know that!" She berated, but the small smile on her face and laugh in her tone told a different story.

Lanaura burst out laughing, falling easily to her side. But her lewd joke had done its job and lifted Elsa out of her funk, or so it seemed.

They sat in an easy silence for a little while, watching her tortured Griffon being used as a jungle gym.

"Alistair was very put out with you the first day you know." Elsa suddenly spoke.

"Oh? Whatever for?"

"Well, apparently the Grey Wardens used to ride Griffons, but they went extinct centuries ago. The fact you had one up your sleeve and didn't tell him made him quite pouty. Oh, and when he tried to touch it, it bit him."

Lanaura burst out laughing yet again at the mental image of a starstruck Alistair being brought straight back to earth by jaded Lion-bird. Even Elsa couldn't help but laugh in that quiet way of hers.

"Oh Light that's perfect. Yea, Snowdrop isn't exactly the most… huggable of Griffon. I've had him for so long now I can't even remember the day I got him. I do remember him knocking me over though. Bastard bird…" She trailed away into a grumble, but the affection she had for her trusty Snowdrop was quite clear.

* * *

They left it at that for a few minutes. They just watched the camp go about their night, Lanaura trying to avoid meeting the betrayed glances Snowdrop kept sending her way.

"I'm guessing the others are back at the cave?" Lanaura suddenly asked.

Elsa jumped slightly. "Oh, right. Yes, they are. They went back to investigate a few hours after you… did whatever you did. Now that you're awake, we can join them tomorrow."

While she was explaining, Keeper Marethari stepped out of the aravel and joined the rest of the Clan around their campfire.

"Do we know what's to be done about Tia?" Lanaura asked, watching the entrance of the Aravel.

"Tia?"

"Tia Mahariel. The sick elf we found."

Elsa grimaced. "Kallian wants to make her a Warden."

"Yea I thought so. Now cmon, hop up. We've got an Elf to stop." Lanaura pushed herself to her feet and pulled Elsa up as well.

Slightly confused, Elsa had to ask. "What do you mean exactly?"

"Oh well, just before I left the Keeper explicitly forbade Tia from heading back to the Cave. A friend of hers and another elf, Tam-something went missing and she wanted to go find him. If I got a read on her properly, she should be slipping out that flap in 4, 3, 2, 1."

Right as the last number dropped from her lips, a small figure wrapped in a dark cloak stole out of the Aravel and quickly headed into the forest, doing their best not to be seen.

Elsa shot an incredulous look Lanaura's way. "How do you _do_ that?"

Lanaura's smug smile was her only response.

* * *

Psh. Not go after one of her best friends. Seriously, what exactly was Marethari _thinking_.

"As if. What does she think I am? A bloody Shemlen, lost in the dark?" Tia ranted in a mutter.

She was walking at a brisk pace through the dark forest in the vague direction of the ruins she and Tamlen had managed to find. Fortunately for her, Elves had much better vision in darkness than the rest of the races of Thedas had. She was confident that she could pick the trail up easy enough.

The corpses of the bandits she and Tamlen had… Taken care of… were going to be easy to find she was sure.

Her armor had been Tainted, or so Marethari had said. It had to be destroyed. So here she was in the leathers most of the clan favoured, borrowed _*Cough*_stolen_*Cough*_ from Marethari's aravel. A borrowed bow was held in her left hand, strung and ready for use.

This was another thing that had managed to piss her off. Not only her armor gone, her weapon was as well.

No Dalish was ever bad with a bow. Tia prided herself on being exceptional with one. But her true passion was the blade, the bigger the better. Her usual weapon was a great sword, and she was the only one in the Clan to use one.

But that meant she was self-taught. So she wasn't as good as she _could_ have been. But there was much to be said for long, long, _long_ hours of practice.

Half way through a rant about "poxy mirrors and stubborn fools who didn't listen" she stiffened. Something very odd registered in her sensitive elvish ears.

It sounded like a roar, like some wounded animal bellowing its pain. Without stopping. Wait, was that getting _louder?_

She turned in the direction of the horrible noise, already knocking an arrow to her bow. But she never got a chance to use it. A bright light hit her, dazzling her sharp eyes.

Wincing at the sudden ocular flash, she nearly didn't duck in time.

The roar reached a fever pitch, and then _something _huge and _metal_ burst from the tree line, flying through the air _right at her head!_

Tia didn't even manage to get a swear off before she had to drop to the ground as the metal monster roared through the space her cranium had oh so very shortly ago occupied. Swearing loudly, she pulled a dagger from her belt, intent on jumping to her feet and defending herself…

Only to be pinned by something massive and covered in armor.

"And_ where_ do you think _you_ are going?" A familiar accent breathed into her ear.

* * *

Lanaura had the flighty elf pinned, making very sure she wasn't just going to bail on them. "And _where_ do you think_ you_ are going?" She asked.

"Get the Void off me you halla-rutting, shem chasing blighter!" Her captive yelled back, trying her best to shift the much heavier woman.

Not exactly succeeding, but admirable nonetheless.

"Woah woah woah. Calm down Fiesty pants. It's just me." Lanaura tried to reason with the small woman.

Not exactly succeeding, but admirable nonetheless.

"And that changes something you flaming, pox ridden harpy? _Get off of me!_"

"Only when you promise to come back to camp. Oh, and not hurt me for this."

"You can stick your 'promise' up your arse!"

"Well it looks like we are at an impasse then."

"Lanaura…" The new voice cut in.

One word. One word was all it took. One word, so heavy with the weight of menacing promise, and terrible, _terrible_ cold from the much smaller Warden Mage. Lanaura stiffened, then gulped.

"Uh, yes dear?" Lanaura replied, with a nervous giggle.

She couldn't look. She couldn't look. It would be a _very_ bad idea for her to look. She could _feel_ the disappoint in the Mage's gaze as it bore into her back.

But, if she was anything like Lanaura's guild leader, the only other person who could glare like that, it was just better to take her lumps.

Ever, _ever_ so cautiously, she looked back over her shoulder at where she had left the bike, and the other rider.

Aaaaaand yep. Horrible idea.

The normally shy, reserved, sometimes skittish Warden Mage had her arms crossed, and a thunderous look on her face. So _this_ was the Elsa Amell that had taken on a bunch of demons single handed.

Her normally sparkling blue eyes had hardened to frozen glaciers, and carried the weight of one as well. Its message was clear. _Get. Off. Elf. _

Like _lightning_ Lanaura was on her feet and standing at perfect military attention. Tia meanwhile swore a few more times and managed to stagger to her feet.

Before pulling back her right hand and punching Lanaura in the face.

"What in Fen'Harel's name was _that_ all about you crazy goat bitch!" She yelled at the much taller woman. "You could have killed me! What gave you the blighting right to pull this crap huh? HUH!"

It was funny really. Lanaura hadn't been yelled at quite like this since basic with the Seventh Legion. Being reminded of Drill Sargent Harris in a positive light was a rare occurrence.

_I don't care if you've fucked the Lich King's face, or violated Yogg-Saron with his own tentacles, boot! Down and give me fifty!_

Fun times…

And while young Tia Mahariel had about a hundred pounds and thirty years experience down,the little elf had the bastard's voice down pat. Yup, the Feisty-Pants nickname was staying.

Eventualy, Mahariel ran out of steam. Another point to DS Harris. He could have kept that up for the rest of the night.

"Just what the hell was that about, huh?" She finished off.

Lan gave it a few seconds, waiting to see if she had permission to speak. At Elsa's gesture, she was free.

"Well, you leaving was a bad idea. So we had to stop you. I _miiiight_ have got just a _little_ overzealous._ Ein te neomeno, kotikei_." She explained, looking appropriately sheepish.

No longer having the energy to keep up her ranting, Tia kept her question short. "Just a little?"

Some retort or another that was forming on her lips died a speedy death as a very familiar prickling in the back of Lanaura's head started alarm bells.

She and Elsa both shot the other a look, and found conformation.

"Darkspawn!" Lanaura called, weapon and shield springing into her arms.

Elsa rushed over to them, slamming her staff into the ground. The bright red light of a magical flare shot from the tip straight into the air, coming to a halt just below the canopy.

"Yeesh. Monsters, Red light, night time? Like every monster movie _ever_." Lanaura casually remarked, as if they weren't about to fight the worst creatures this world had to face.

Just then, the rumble of rushing feet began to reach their ears. Ooooh shit. That was a _lot_ of feet.

A curse and the sound of a bow twanging from next to her, and the resulting high-pitched scream from the darkness drew her attention to their Dalish companion.

She was already knocking an arrow into place as they glanced at her. Eh, they said Elves had much better night vision. It wasn't much of a surprise that she could see, and thusly shoot, earlier than they could.

But after a couple seconds that didn't matter either way, as the Darkspawn made their appearance.

Spilling into the clearing in a massive group, screaming their unholy war cries they charged the much smaller group, clearly expecting a quick victory, if only through overwhelming numbers.

OH how wrong they were.

Time for seven foot tall blue _battering ram!_

Lanaura's voice filled the clearing as she let loose a truly titanic Battle Cry, roaring her challenge at the approaching Darkspawn. She slammed her blade against her shield and charged headlong at the Darkspawn group.

"Come at me motherfuckers! _Feta'vai akahachi!" _

She met the leading Hurlok at full tilt, slamming her shield into its chest at max speed. The force of the blow stunned the unholy creature, but the follow up flash of her Sabre finished it. The creature's head hadn't even hit the ground before Lanaura was on the next one, her enchanted sword cleaving through its crude blade and deep into tainted flesh at her downward strike.

The Bulwark of the Fallen General leapt up, blocking the battle axe of a random hurlok. She twisted, and pushed forward, casually bisecting the offending creature as she passed. Another took the edge of the Bulwark to the throat, crushing it's unholy windpipe.

The Darkspawn had truly surrounded her now, pressing down on all sides. The Enchanted Shao-Tien Sabre flashed time and time again as she cut down more and more of the Tainted beings, and the Bulwark blocked, struck and smashed a path through the creatures. There seemed to be no end to the press of bodies, the unrelenting attacks.

But to tell the truth, this kind of fight was when Lanaura came _alive! _

Another massive Battle cry, and Lanaura slammed her foot down so hard a shockwave of force blasted a large group of their feet. Instantly, she was amongst them as they tried to rise, cutting the defenceless monsters down.

So focused on her own fun times she was only vaguely aware of the storms and blasts of ice that were being flung at the Darkspawn that weren't falling over themselves in a mad rush to try and hack bits off of the strange new Alien woman decimating their ranks. Elsa was going to _town_ on these dirty blighters! I'd be hilarious to watch if it wouldn't mean a painful death.

She let loose a woop of pure joy as she charged another small group, cutting them down easy as you please with a massive smile on her face. Now _This_ was a fight!

Wait, her Tank senses were tingling! She shot her gaze over to the others, seeing them begin to get overrun. Armed only with a bow Tia's effectiveness was limited, and while Elsa was blowing them to pieces, forcing them back again and again, staff flying through the air spilling ice wherever it went, the press of numbers was beginning to get too much for her. _Oh heeeellll no! Not _my_ squishies! _

She slammed her shield into a Hurlok's chest, knocking him a few feet away and conveniently leaving a narrow avenue open. Without even caring where he ended up she immediately took off at a dead sprint towards her companions, refusing to be too slow.

* * *

These two were _insane!_

More Darkspawn than she could count rushing towards them, and the crazy blue bitch that had just finished nearly killing her _bellowed_ and charged them. When the 'spawn had swallowed her up she was sure the massive woman was a goner.

The fact the other woman, who she hadn't gotten a chance to really look at yet, was a Mage came in handy. Tia was quite certain the 'spawn would have overrun her if it weren't for the crazy stuff the mage was throwing out.

She'd seen Merrill cast before, they'd been attacked by bandits enough. But _this. _This was… Incredible! But she couldn't afford to be too distracted however, and simply kept pumping arrow after arrow into the 'spawn band.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. They just kept coming, and she was running out of arrows, and fast.

She jumped back out of range of a Genlok's swing, drawing a belt knife as she did so. The instant she landed she leapt forward again, slamming the blade into the 'spawn's throat.

It gurgled horribly, spilling black blood all over her palm. It fell backwards, dead as dead could be. Unfortunately, it took the Knife with it, lodged into something. Her slippery hands were unable to pull the blade from its new sheath in Darkspawn gullet, but trying to hold on pulled Tia off balance.

Leaving her dangerously upset, and watching in horror as a new 'spawn's hammer arced downward directly at her head.

And suddenly, there was a shield in front of her face.

The hammer crashed against Lanaura's shield and was knocked aside, hitting dirt instead of pretty elf. The Shao-Tien Sabre flashed and it's head hit the ground soon straight after it.

She didn't ask if Tia was alright, thusly not giving Tia a chance to hotly declare she was like she wanted to. Instead, the Warden pressed her own weapons into Tia's hands.

Blinking in surprise, she took the sword and board, surprised by just how _right_ they felt in her hands, even though she typically used a two handed blade.

But that didn't matter. She would be far more useful in this melee with a blade than a bow.

Nodding her thanks she turned back to the Darkspawn, the mage having kept them at bay while all this was happening. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Warden pull another weapon out of her… somewhere. She caught a glimpse of a blade of red and gold, and an odd golden disk before the Spawn were on them again.

The fight dragged on for a few more minutes. Through it all the three were pressed back to back, beset on all sides by foul creatures. But they stood tall, blades flashing and magic spewing forth again and again and again.

But, all good things must come to an end. At long last, the last foul creature's face met dirt with a distinctly satisfying thud. Seventy five corpses, more or less, filled the forest around them.

"Awww. It's over already?"

Tia glanced over her shoulder at the massive blue woman, the odd blade she had pulled from… somewhere having already vanished.

Odd, but not important right now.

"Whew, that was a _fight _huh? Wohoo! You were awesome Elsa! You could outdo a Siege geared Frost Mage with a little more work! And you, Tia! You have _potential!_ I just can't wait to start training ya!" The big blue woman gushed, grabbing the elf by the shoulders, a wide nearly manic smile on her admittedly rather good looking face.

_Wait, _what!

"_Buttt_ that dosen't matter right now. We should be heading back to your clan Feisty-Pants. You're going to be dropping like a lead weight in a few seconds."

Tia just blinked at her. She felt fine, better than fine in fact. Adrenaline was still pumping through her system like wildfire. Why would she…

A sudden, terrible thought crossed her mind. Tia let off a strangled gasp. "The clan! Those Darkspawn! They aren't safe!"

"Woah there girl, calm down. It's fine." Lanaura tried to ease the elf woman.

She was having none of it however. "What the hell do you mean _its fine_! Who knows how many of those things are in these woods! They could be-"

Her tirade was cut sharply off via Draenei palm slapping over her mouth. It took a split second for Tia to process the sheer audacity of the other woman, and glared daggers over the blue hand.

"It's fine. Those 'spawn came from the wrong direction, and were heading in the wrong direction. They would have missed the camp by several miles. We are pretty far south right now, it was probably a particularly large scouting band. And in the direction they were headed… I think we just saved the others a lot of trouble Elsa. They were headed in the Cave's direction."

The Draenei's attention focused on the last of their little group. Tia's own attention was drawn to the beautiful human woman…

Wait, HUMAN!

Tia snarled behind Lanaura's hand, immediately lashing out. Unfortunately for her, Lanaura was one _fast_ blue bitch. She had her arm locked behind her back so fast it made Tia's head spin.

Or, that might have been the culminated effects of the last few days hitting her at last. Who knows.

"What the void are you doing Fiesty-Pants!" Lanaura demanded.

"What is _that_ doing here? Do you know what she is!" Tia angrily shot back.

Elsa herself shrank back slightly, unsure what she had done or what to do.

"Yes, I do." Lanaura growled. "The question is, what is your _problem_?!"

"She's a blighting _shemlen_ that's my problem! They're bad news! Nothing good ever comes from their spirit-damned kind!"

Lanaura stilled very quickly. Her grip on Tia's arm tightened considerably.

Elsa couldn't help but fall back a step. The expression on the usually bright Draenei's face was… terrifying. Her stare was stabbing white hot knives at Tia's head.

She gave Tia's arm a quick twist, just enough to have the much smaller woman grunt. She leaned down and put her face next to Tia's pain twisted own.

"I'm going to tell you something and you are going to listen. I've been to a lot of places in this universe. I've lived a _long_ time now kid. And guess what. The humans happen to be one of the most honourable races I've ever known. They and the Alliance are the only reason the Draenei still exist.

Now I remember your scars, and how you got them. Maybe you _have_ had nothing but bad experiences with Humanity. Light knows I've killed enough of them myself. But Elsa here just spent void knows how long keeping your tiny ass alive in that last fight. Elsa, Alistair, Wynne, Morrigan and Leliana, our human companions, are quite frankly some of the best people I've ever met.

Now they may not be easy to get along with. Light, Morrigan is a_ bitch_ sometimes. But they are good people and I will _not_ have you assaulting them. Now I'm going to let you go, you are going to apologise to this _Grey Warden_ you just attacked. Then, we go back to your clan and you can keep believing whatever you want to believe about whoever you want. Just don't spill your ignorance infront of me again. Are we clear?"

Tia just swore at her.

Lanaura twisted her arm again, harder this time. "Are. We. Clear?"

Tia bit back a curse. "Dread wolf-Fine! Just let go of me dammit!"

Lanaura dropped her arms, letting the much smaller elf woman free to shake herself off. Grumbling,elf managed to mutter something vaguely like an apology at the Mage before turning on her heel and stomping back in the direction of her camp.

Lanaura and Elsa let her stride away for a little while, both lost in their own thoughts. But eventually they sobered enough to climb back aboard the chopper.

Elsa wrapped her arms around Lanaura's waist like always. She paused for a moment and just before the Chopper kicked into life she spoke.

"Thank you, Lana. I never expected that. You don't learn much of the outside world at the Circle."

Lanaura paused for a moment, casting a glance over her shoulder at the Mage. "That's where the others found you right? You will have to tell me about life there sometime. And don't worry. I just hope she can work with us until the Archdeamon is dead. After that, it's up to Kallian. But, the fact that we follow an Elf instead of say, Alistair, might smooth things a bit. She's a firecracker, she's a good woman underneath."

Elsa had nothing to say to that. So, Lanaura kicked the Chopper into gear and raced off after their wayward Elf.

It didn't take long for them to find her again, still muttering to herself under her breath. Lanaura pulled up beside the fuming woman.

Then, she flicked a previously unused switch on her handlebars. From behind Elsa's foot a hidden compartment shot out a few feet before shifting and slotting together automatically.

When the moving stopped the Chopper had its sidecar out and ready to go.

"Get in." Lanaura said to the Dalish woman.

Tia just shot her a filthy glare.

"C'mon. It's easier than walking and much faster. The quicker we get back the quicker we can warn your Keeper." Lanaura patiently explained.

Tia shot her another angry glare, before relenting to the sheer un-Lanauralike logic and hopping comfortably into the convenient sidecar.

It was only five minutes later that Elsa found her voice.

"Wait, So I've been sat behind you for hours every day for the last _week_. And I could have been riding in that thing the _entire time_!"

Lanaura gulped.

"Ehehe…"

* * *

Translations –

_Kalason'edos, - You're Welcome. _

_Tiel octethi – It was nothing._

_Ein te neomeno, kotikei – I'm sorry, elf._


	5. Stay away from the Red Vial

I'm BAAAAACK!

Hello again I am LuckyFractal and these are my words.

How you guys been? Been a little bit since I last saw you. I shall admit, that lies entirely upon my own shoulders. I had a widdle bit of writers block, I'm sure you all know the feeling.

But! I forced through it and just in time for me to be away from my PC for a month I bring you a chapter! Hope it wasn't too long a wait.

Now. I must admit, I have some issues. Some, _major_ issues. Shipping.

I have _absolutely no idea_ who to ship. Now my typical Warden ship is Leliana, but man I dont _know!_ _  
_

And that's not even _starting _on Lanaura. So many possibilities... Choices, choices, _choices!_

So I have decided. Screw me deciding, lets have you decide for me! I'll pop a poll up on my profile with a list of ships and gauge some interest!

Now, keep in mind that while I shall take great consideration upon the outcome of the vote, If something story line wise changes, or I decide against it later on I will keep full discretionary veto powers. Because lets be honest, it's probably not going to be Alistair. Adorable as he is.

I'll keep this poll open until the I post my next chapter.

Any ships you want to see but don't on the poll, drop me a review and demand it! Ship for the Ship God!  
(Except for Zevran. I have plans for Zevran... MWAHAHAHAHAHA)

Now that that's out of the way I hope you enjoy the chapter, I'll keep writing as much as I can over the time i'm away and i'll see you next time!

Now, On to review replies!

(Speakin of which, REVIEW people! Please? Cmon, you know you want to! I'll love you forever!)

**Great Northern One:** I have absolutley no idea! If people vote Alistair/Cousland on the poll, then perhaps! We'll just have to wait and see. And thats good to hear. Also, I don't think we're going to have to wait _quite_ that long for a little bit of Amell story. I think we're going to be seeing them a fair bit sooner. Who knows?

**Jgkitarel: **Lanaura never learns! Lanaura never even cares! And wow you want to see her in the Fade. You bring up a point however... Hmmm. It'd be amazing to see... Yes, Yes I think I will. Enjoy!

**Mwjen: **Thanks! Glad you like it.

**Novice:** I use a fantastic little resource from the WoW Forums, a player named Eidthi wrote a whole cypher expanding what little of the Draenei language we canonically have. I'll pop a link in my profile page for you to have a look at it if you want.

As for her excuse, yes. I do agree it might have been a little anticlimactic, but it's just a perfect "Lanaura" explanation. It fits her way too well for me to change it now.  
As for the team, they're just mean. Snowdrop's an old bastard, but he loves kids. He didn't hate it nearly as much as it seems.

Anyway, any Draenei Language translations will be posted at the end of the chapter. Without any further ado, Enjoy!

* * *

The ride back to the Dalish encampment was understandably awkward for our brave blue heroine. She had a seething elf riding in her sidecar, occasionally shooting murderous glances at her, and an exceptionally pissed off Ice mage behind her.

Lanaura was morbidly fascinated by the sheer extremes on the anger spectrum the two women displayed. Tia's anger was the scorching variety. A lot of heated, seething glances and angrily muttered obscenities.

Elsa's on the other hand was _cold_. She didn't so much as look at Lanaura the whole trip back or respond to any of Lanaura's awkward attempts at conversation. She gave the term 'cold shoulder' a new meaning.

The literal kind. Where Elsa's hands gripped her the armor was starting to freeze over. Which was saying something, as Lanaura was wearing _Vrykul _designed armor, suited for even the coldest places on _Northrend_.

"Uh, Elsa? You're freezing my armor. I kinda need it…" Lanaura _very _cautiously informed.

Elsa didn't respond verbally, but Lanaura heard her let out a long breath. Mercifully, the cold receded from her poor abused metal plates.

Fortunately, the ride wasn't very long. A few minutes later and they broke the tree line into the Dalish's claimed clearing. The clan seemed to have retired for the night for the most part, leaving only a few left still drinking or quietly chatting around the fire.

The instant the Chopper stopped, Tia was out of the sidecar and angrily stomping away, heading in the direction of the Aravels.  
Only to be met by a very peeved looking Marethari, who had just emerged from her own landship.

After a few heated words Marethari nodded her thanks at the Wardens before pulling Tia into her Aravel, no doubt for a solid dressing down for leaving against her orders.

Elsa quickly dismounted and wandered away without a word, pointedly ignoring Lanaura's calls.

Lanaura sighed heavily and dismissed her Chopper, her mind full of plans for what to do to appease her frosty Warden companion.

That was, of course, until she turned around. Stood a foot behind her was none other than Snowdrop the Snowy Griffon. Distinctly lacking the happy hangers on that had stopped him from gaining his retribution on his owner for leaving him in that hell.

And he was _pissed_.

"Oooohhhh. I forgot to dismiss you…" Lanaura groaned.

Snowdrop nodded his feathered head. After one long moment of pregnant silence, he charged.

"Woah woah woah!" Lanaura yelled before being tackled by her maddened mount.

* * *

Elsa returned to the clearing a few minutes later, the pressing call of nature satisfied. She wandered back into the firelight on autopilot, her thoughts elsewhere.

If she was honest with herself, Elsa wasn't really mad at Lanaura. She was just… Surprised.  
Physical contact wasn't exactly a 'thing' at the Circle. Being forced to touch someone in such an, for lack of a better word, intimate way was exceptionally uncomfortable for the introverted girl. Then finding out the whole thing could have been avoided and you had one annoyed Ice mage.

But of course there's no way Lanaura would know anything about how things worked in the Circle, or about how utterly uncomfortable she had been for the first few days. Elsa hadn't said anything after all. But after that, she'd gotten used to it and riding behind the blue bombshell had become routine, even rather nice.

Mind made up on apologizing for her frosty behavior, Elsa brought herself back to the present.

Only to be confronted by the rather novel sight of a seven foot tall blue space goat wrestling with a Griffon. Oh, the Griffon. Elsa had to wonder how exactly she had managed to forget about something like that.

Then again, she was in Lanaura's company. Stuff like this just… happened.

She was halfway through readying her staff to help the besieged Draenei when she noticed the beaming smile on the woman's face, and the loud, braying laughter unique to Lanaura over the squawks of Snowdrop.

Lanaura must have noticed her, standing there half ready to attack and with a confused look on her face. She shifted her weight, got some leverage and managed to flip Snowdrop over, pinning him for a few moments. In those brief seconds she managed to flash a smile Elsa's way.

"Don't worry! We're just having some fun! If he was actually attacking me I'd of dismissed him by now." She managed to explain before being forced off by the Griffon's back and pinned herself.

Elsa watched in absolute confusion as her fellow Warden play-wrestled with the lion-bird for a few moments before a laughing Lanaura and a less annoyed looking Snowdrop separated. Lan gave her grumpy old mount a scratch before dismissing him back to his little spot of paradise in his pocket dimension.

"Hehe, sorry 'bout that." Lanaura apologized.

They stood there for a moment, neither really knowing what to say. Awkward as hell would be an appropriate description.

"Hey… About that whole… Chopper thing." Lanaura began, only to be stopped by Elsa's raised hand.

"It's ok." She said quietly. "I'm not mad."

Lanaura blinked. "Really?"

Elsa nodded. "Really. I just… I didn't quite…" Elsa trailed off, not knowing how to explain things.

Fortunately, she was spared the task. "That's allright. I'm still sorry. We friends again?" Lanaura asked, sticking her hand out.

Elsa smiled her tiny smile. "Friends." She grasped the Draenei's outstretched hand.

Lanaura let loose a long sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness. Anyway, I'm going to go chat with Marethari about the Darkspawn we fought. We don't know how many are out there, but they are there. She'll probably shift the clan away at first opportunity. It's what I'd do at least."

Lan paused for a second, a faraway look in her eyes, before shaking her head and refocusing on the Mage. "You should get some sleep. You were amazing back there, but you must be exhausted. I'll stay up and keep Darkspawn Watch tonight."

Elsa had to admit, she was tired. Bone weary in fact. "All right." She agreed. "But, can you help me set my tent up? I forgot to earlier." She admitted, yawning adorably.

Lan cocked her head. "Oh? That's fine, you can use mine. Here." She said.

Hand diving into her Incredible Magic Bag of Amazing or IMBA™ yet another summon stone was revealed. She gave it a quick rub before tossing it into a space nearby.

Where it landed a large blast of smoke burst outward, clearing rapidly to reveal the small, single person tent, already set up right there in the clearing.

Past being surprised at something so mundane, (for Lanaura at least) Elsa just thanked her companion.

Before she could go to lie down however, Lanaura started walking towards it. "Here, I'll show you where the bedroom is."

_Wait, what?_

It was a little amusing to see the crazily tall woman have to bend over double to get through the flap but the fact that she disappeared without a ripple of the fabric on either side confused the Mage. Lanaura was big enough that even bent over so much she would be too big for it.

Curious, she approached the tent and after only a moment's hesitation, ducked through the flap.

Immediately, her jaw dropped open. Yet again.

Inside the tent, was a house.

There was a _house_. _INSIDE A TENT._

A fully furnished living room complete with couches, dining table, a strange black box on top of a small table, a couple of doors leading off the room on the far side, and even a roaring fire were what met Elsa's eyes.

Which of course _should not be there_ because after all, _THEY WERE INSIDE A TENT!_

None of the fact that this _should not be happening_ seemed to phase Lanaura, who was noisily bustling around in what Elsa assumed was the kitchen judging by the sounds of pots and pans clanging together coming from that room.

The woman herself bustled out of the side room a plate of cookies and a mug of something which she wasted no time in pushing into Elsa's hands.

Grabbing them on complete autopilot as her brain struggled to reboot, she nearly missed Lanaura's attempts to talk to her. "Yohoo, Snowflake, you in there? What's the matter?"

It was a moment before Elsa could enunciate just exactly what she was feeling. "House…" She eventually stammered out. "House… I-inside a tent…"

Lanaura blinked. "Hmm? What do you… Oh." She said, eyes widening in realization.

Before she started laughing. "Hehe, I've said It before I'll say it again, Pocket Dimension storage is quite possibly the best thing ever!" She explained.

She just stood there and watched Elsa gape for a little while, waiting for the beleaguered Ice Mage managed to fully reset her brain with a smirk on her face.

Eventually deciding it was taking too long, Lan grabbed one of the cookies from the plate in her hands and stuck the warm doughy treat into the still open mouth.

The instant the chocolaty delight was in her mouth and the delicious flavours washed over her taste buds all reality bending problems were washed away. Sweet Maker this woman could cook!

Unconsciously letting out a small moan of delight as she munched on her snack Elsa's brain managed to finish applying its software update. She glanced at the still smirking Draenei Warden, before properly looking around the room.

"Wow…"

"Mhmm. It's pretty much the same way my Bag works. Only… Bigger. Keeps food fresh too. Anyway, welcome to my home!" Lanaura happily said.

"This is your home?"

"Yuh-huh. Well I mean, technically I have assigned quarters on the Exodar like any Draenei that I share with my sister, but I live here mostly. I haven't been back there in years. The life of an Adventurer isn't a nine to five kinda deal. We spend months out in the world sometimes, staying wherever we can. Be that an Inn in a frontier town, a major city, or our tents. It's nice being able to have these kinds of comforts." Lan explained.

"Yea…" Was all Elsa could reply with.

"Anyway, cmon. Your bed for the night awaits."

Elsa was lead over to one of the doors. "Here you go bedrooms through here. Bathroom is the door next to the kitchen, the lights come on when you clap. Try not to blunder into the third door on the right, that's where I keep all my sharp pointies. Anyway, Night!"

And with nary another word said Lanaura departed, vanishing out the hilariously small front flap/door of the abode.

Elsa watched her go, snacking on the heaven in the mouth that were Lanaura's cookies. Deciding that the day had given her more than enough to think about, she pushed through Lanaura's bedroom door, intent on nothing but uninterrupted sleep.

Lan's bedroom was quite basic, a huge double bed to fit the huge woman, night stand, dresser and closet. The walls were the same undecorated wood as the rest of the home, save for two hanging purple banners on either side of the bed. Both had writing on them, in a language Elsa couldn't even begin to understand.

Aside from that the only touch of personalisation was a small framed portrait on the bedside. Unable to overcome her curiosity, she picked it up.

It was a painting of two Draenei who looked exactly alike, save for the cut of their hair, an arm wrapped around each other's shoulders and smiling. Lanaura with her huge, unrestrained grin and the other with a much smaller but no less warm smile. What was weird about the painting was it was so amazingly realistic, like someone had taken a moment in time and somehow put it on the canvas.

Her mind managed to dredge up something Lan had mentioned just before. _This must be her sister… She never mentioned her before…_

Before she could think any more about it, a sudden wave of exhaustion swamped the Mage, nearly dropping her to the floor. _Woah, must be more tired than I thought. _

And so, she put the painting down and readied herself for sleep. But not of course, before she finished the plate of cookies.

* * *

Lanaura stepped out into the clearing, intent on Marethari's aravel.

Fortunately, she was spared the walk. "Ah, excellent. I am glad to see you return unharmed Warden." The accented voice of the clan Keeper caught her attention.

"_Jeso _Keeper. I hope you managed to calm down the spitfire." Lanaura said, with a small smile.

Marethari sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Yes indeed I have. She has been warned against escaping like that again. Were it not for your and your companion's help we would have lost her, even after putting so much effort keeping her from _Falon'Din's_ realm. I am once again in your debt. _Ma Serannas, _Warden."

"Heh, It was the least we could do, no worries. She gave you a rundown of what happened?"

"Indeed. I must admit, DarkSpawn this close to the camp frightens me. I have kept our hunters on high alert and pulled them back closer to the camp. All we can do is keep sharp eyes and pray to _Mythal_ for guidance."

Lanaura nodded. "Good. Luckily, my guess is they were a scouting band much further ahead of the main horde. We shouldn't have to worry about numbers like that again for the moment. But I'll stay up tonight and keep watch. Warden powers and all that. Least I can do."

"_Ma serannas _Warden. I will begin preparations for moving the clan tomorrow morning. We will be heading north, as quickly as possible."

"Yea, probably the best idea. How long will that take to prepare?"

"Well, if my First were here we could be away as early as tomorrow afternoon. However, she's with one of the other Dalish clans right now, and we need to be here for her to return to us."

"Sorry, but First? What's that?"

"Ah, A First among the Dalish is my apprentice, the one who will follow me as Keeper and lead the clan. I teach her our lore, our magics, so that she may keep our History alive and pass it on herself."

"Makes sense. History is important. It's been a struggle for the Draenei as well to remember everything we used to be."

Marethari raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Our people sound quite similar. You shall have to share your tale with me if we get the chance, and I shall do the same."

Lana nodded. "Of course. Maybe tomorrow night, when the children are awake. I'm sure they'd love a new story."

Marethari laughed at that. "Oh yes, I'm afraid they are getting quite bored of our Storyteller's repetitions. In that case Warden I shall retire for the night. _Dareth shiral."_

"_Antiana_ Keeper." Lanaura replied.

With that, Marethari disappeared into her Aravel and Lanaura wandered over to the dying fire to settle herself in for a long night of watch ahead.

* * *

Tia Mahariel woke up late, a side effect of her rough few days. It didn't take long for her to flash out of bed, slip her borrowed leathers on and race out the Aravel. They were going to look for Tamlen today, hopefully the Wardens hadn't departed yet.

They hadn't. She found the two waiting for her by Marethari's Aravel, deep in conversation with the Keeper herself.

She swiftly made her way over, Marethari was the first to notice her. "Ah, _Lethallan._ Good morning. We were just waiting for you."

"Mornin' Sunshine. Sup?" The taller of the two Wardens greeted the volatile elf.

"Mornin." Tia greeted. "We going soon?"

"Yup. Just waiting for your sleepy butt." Lanaura smirked at her.

Out of Lan and Elsa's line of vision, Marethari shot Tia a pointed look, at which she sighed heavily.

"Wardens, I wish to apologise for my behaviour last night. I was angry, worried and out of line. I'm sorry."

Lanaura just looked at her for a moment, before turning her head to look at Elsa. She raised her eyebrow in question, receiving a nod of the head in return. Turning back to the Elf, Lan responded. "No worries. Just don't pull that again and we'll be fine. Just so you know, four of our group are Human, not counting Elsa here. One of which will probably try to maul you if you insult her. So don't do that. You keep your shit to yourself and we got no problems. We clear?"

Tia grit her teeth slightly, but nodded. "Yes."

Lanaura's face brightened considerably and broke into a huge smile. "Fantastic! Hey by the way, you're a two-hander kind of girl right?" She asked suddenly.

Tia nodded. "Yea… Why?"

"Ah, a girl after my own heart. I got a gift for ya."

Lan's hand was stuck into the IMBA™ and rooted around for a second before it was pulled from the bag with a flourish. What came with it had the three others jaws dropping.

In Lanaura's hand, was a sword. But not just any sword. The two handed blade was a brilliant sky blue, curved like a crescent moon and _glowing_ pattern of connecting stars was etched into its length. The orange wrapped hilt connected to a strange crossguard that invoked the image of the sun before connecting to the blade.

It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing the sword loving Elf had ever seen.

"This, my young friend, is named Starshatter. It has served me well for some time and now I think it will serve you just as well." Lan said, a laugh in her voice at the other woman's awe.

She gently passed the blade over to the starstruck (_heh, Starstruck. Lanaura, you crack yourself up.) _Elf, who took it reverently. She stared at it for a second, before turning unbelieving eyes up to the Draenei woman. "This… I can have this? This is for me?" She asked in a whisper, not quite able to process.

Lanaura just shrugged. "Yup. 'Sall yours. Use her well."

"I will…"

Elsa just shook her head at the whole display. It was just a sword. A very pretty sword mind you, but a sword nonetheless. As if reading her thoughts, Lan suddenly spoke.

"It is most certainly not 'just a sword', I swear you mages don't understand anything sometimes." She admonished without a single trace of actual scorn in her voice. "Anyway, we best get moving. Cmon."

Within minutes they were off, Lanaura's Chopper growling as they disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Stood outside the cave of bad juju, Leliana the Bard sighed heavily. It had been a long couple of days.

They'd left Lanaura passed out on the Aravel floor, even with Sten assisting they had proven unable to move the tall woman. Who would have ever thought she would be so heavy! (Never to be said to her face) Not to mention having nowhere to put her. So they had left her there in Elsa and Marethari's care and rode as quickly as they could back to the cave.

It had been just as creepy as the first time, the two remaining Wardens were tenser than she had ever seen them. The whole group had readied weapons and pushed into the cave. They had never expected to find a ruin inside, not to mention with such odd statues. The ruins themselves were of a Human make but the decorations and statues were most certainly not so.

She could only supress a shudder. This was one story she would _not_ be telling again.

They'd made their way through the ruins, dealing with everything that had made its home there over the no doubt centuries it had been uninhabited. _Maker_ did she hate giant spiders.

The weird thing was, the deeper they got the more on edge their leader got. Kallian was twitchy, on edge and near snapping point by the time they'd found that Mirror, and Alistair was no better. How very strange for the normally kind, upbeat man to be so… agitated. It did not suit him.

Speaking of that unholy relic… Uuugh. The instant she had lain eyes on it she knew it was bad news. Kallian had said that it was the source of the Taint the cave was emitting. Of course, as a non-Warden, she couldn't feel that. But there was a… corruption about the place that was palpable even to her. She felt utterly filthy standing in that Mirror's presence. After a little while she just couldn't stand it anymore and had come outside to keep watch.

Sten had deigned to join her, the fanatically anti-mage Qunari was just as unsettled as she was, not as if he would ever admit it.

There they had stayed for the last couple nights. Wynne and Morrigan had convinced Kallian that studying the dirty thing was a good idea. How she had no idea, but Kallian had agreed. Morrigan had seemed a little _too_ interested in the relic.

It was decided that they would study the thing until Lanaura and Elsa rejoined them. At which point, it would be destroyed. Morrigan had argued quite strongly against such an action, but it was to no avail. Kallian had put her foot down and even the stubborn and standoffish Wilder Witch fell in line.

Not without a few grumbled words mind you.

After that, the ruin had been searched from top to toe. Nothing else had been found. There was not a single trace of the Elf that had supposedly been here.

Leliana sighed to herself. It was at times like this she missed the newest addition to their group. Lanaura had a way of making everything seem brighter, of cheering everybody up through either her wit or her truly divine cooking skills.

As if thinking her name was a Divine summon, the faint, unique growling sound of Lanaura's contraption reached her ears. She couldn't keep the smile from breaking across her face.

She walked over and shook Sten awake from his place napping against the rocks. "They're back. Would you go tell the Warden?" She asked.

Sten slowly stood, nodded at her. "Good. I shall be glad to be away of this place."

Without another word he turned and walked briskly back into the ruins, leaving Leliana alone, silently agreeing with him.

The sound of Lanaura's mount was growing steadily louder and it was not long before she breached the treeline and made it into sight.

Leliana cocked an eyebrow. She hadn't been expecting a third.

Moments later the bike pulled up beside them and was dismissed in a puff of smoke. Elsa and Lanaura landed on their feet. The Elf they were with however… did not.

With a short expletive she landed in a heap on her behind, a sword that could only have come from Lanaura's strange armoury attached to her back. She swore powerfully for a few seconds but was ignored completely.

"Lanaura! I am glad you are all right!" Leliana happily exclaimed.

The taller woman grinned at her, equally glad to see the red-head. "Heya, Strings. Seduce the boss yet?" She asked, her grin turning quickly to a smirk.

Leliana blushed slightly, not quite meeting Lanaura's eye. "I am certain I have no idea what you mean…"

"Cooouuuurse not. Don't know what I was thinking." Lanaura said, her tone calling bullshit. "Anyway, where's the Boss at? We need to find her."

"She's inside, I'll take you to her. By the way, who might this be?" She asked, looking to the newcomer who had by now gained her feet.

Lan glanced at the Elf, who had no apparent urge to answer for herself. Narrowing her eyes slightly in irritation she answered for her. "This is Tia Mahariel. The one we found here."

Realization flashed through the Bard's eyes. "Ah, you're all right. That's excellent news, Wynne was worried you wouldn't wake up. I am glad to see you in good health." She turned to the Elf, a smile on her face.

Tia looked back at her fellow redhead, trying her best not to sneer. "Yea. I'm just bloody peachy. Where's Tamlen?" She asked in a hard tone of voice.

Leliana blinked. "Tamlen? Who would that be?"

"The elf that was here with me a few days ago, Shemlen! You found him right?"

"Tia…" Lanaura's warning went unheeded.

Leliana flinched. "I am sorry to say we found nothing of him. Not a single trace. He is not here, and it is like he never was." She explained in a soft tone.

Tia visibly recoiled at the news. Blatant shock and disbelief splashed across her face before she could stop it. Quickly though that turned to anger. "Hm. I'll see for myself wont I." She resolved. Without another word she pushed past the taller woman and walked off into the ruins.

Lanaura could only sigh. This was going to be hard.

"Have I somehow annoyed her?" Leliana had to ask as she lead the two Wardens into the ruins after the angry Elf.

Lanaura shook her head. "Only being born a Human, Strings."

It didn't take long for that particular comment to click. "Oh…"

"Yea. Oh. And the best part is, she'll be coming with us when we leave. I'm not sure she knows that yet."

Leliana frowned slightly. "I can't see Morrigan putting up with her behaviour for very long…"

"Yeah… Neither. Let's just hope we can keep things from exploding until she learns to work with you guys."

* * *

They wandered into the ruins, passing a few dead Darkspawn and Spider corpses along the way. About half way in the sound of running paws on the stone echoed on them with just enough time for Lan to brace herself before Muffins the Mabari launched himself out a side door to happily greet their now returned Wardens.

"Hey buddy! Miss me?" Lan cooed at the massive hound.

"Bark Bark!" Was her reply.

This greeting done, she was quickly ignored in favour of their so far silent Mage companion. He raced up to her, ran in circles around her a few times, before grabbing lightly onto the sleeve of her robe and pulling towards the room he was just in.

"Well, well, looks like he wants to show you something. What's the harm right?" Lan laughed. "I'll go check in with Kalli, see what he wants."

Elsa nodded to her. "Okay."

With that she allowed herself to be dragged away by happy warhound and the two remaining continued on.

"You know, she has such a lovely voice. She doesn't use it enough. I bet her singing would be beautiful..." Leliana moaned.

"Yea, you can picture her now, belting out a power ballad from the top of a mountain!" Lan laughed.

They paused a second, glanced at each other before bursting out laughing.

"Yeaaah, Naahhh." Lanaura laughed.

By the time they finished their laughing fit they reached one very particular door. Leliana paused, unwilling to actually enter. "The others are through there. I'm going back outside. I hate it here." She admitted.

"Hey, all good. I'll catch you in a bit yea?"

Leliana nodded and quickly walked away, not wanting to be stuck inside this cursed ruin for a moment longer.

Lanaura could understand her feeling. The whole ruin felt _wrong_.

Shrugging the dirty feeling off she pushed open the door.

Inside wasn't what she was expecting. Morrigan, Alistair, Kallian, Sten and Wynne were all surrounding what looked like a large mirror stood on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Even Lan shivered, the feeling was worst here.

The mirror itself was obviously the dominant feature about the room. It was massive, even taller than Lanaura herself, which at seven and a half feet tall was saying something. It was flanked by two sword-wielding statues, standing as if to guard the relic.

From what, Lanaura couldn't say.

The rest of the room was a dilapidated as the rest of the ruins, tree roots burst through the ceiling and stone bricks had fallen away to lie haphazardly on the cracked floor.

"Yo! I'm back!" Lanaura called, drawing the rest's attention away from the cursed artefact.

"Lan. Good to see you awake. Everything allright?" Kallian asked.

"Yea all good. You should count yourselves lucky though. Elsa, Tia and I saved you lot a heap of trouble last night." Lan said with a knowing smirk.

"What kind of trouble? And who's Tia?" Alistair asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh, Tia's the elf we found. And the "trouble" would be about seventy five Darkspawn that were headed in this direction. New girl's good with a blade. Gave her one of mine." She informed, wandering over to the rest of the group.

Kallian shrugged and turned back to the mirror. "They clearly weren't much of a problem for you three. Thanks for that, If they'd have surprised us we'd have been in some real trouble here."

"That's a _lot_ of Darkspawn. And you did that without injuries?" Wynne piped up.

"Yea, somehow. New girl's good with a blade and _Holy Light_ Snowflake's amazing. She's nearing the sheer power of some of our higher level mages back on Azeroth and that's _without_ our gear. Stick her in a set of decent Mage kit and a decent focus, who knows what she might be able to do." Lan gushed.

Wynne chuckled lightly under her breath. "Yes, young Elsa had great potential in the Circle. There wasn't a single one of the Senior Enchanters who didn't see her joining us within the next few years, newly minted Mage or not. One of the fastest Harrowings I'd ever seen as well…"

Kallian decided to bring the conversation back on track. "Anyway, The new girl. Anything I need to know about her?"

"Just that she's a racist that doesn't like humans all that much." Lan said.

The rest of the team blinked. "Oh…" Was all that Alistair could muster in response.

"Yea. Can't help but fell it might cause some problems later on." Lan deadpanned.

"Hm. Well In _my_ case…" Morrigan began.

"Already warned her you'd maul first ask questions later Morri-bear." Lanaura interrupted.

"Hm. I'd hardly maul first. If she grated particularly on my nerves I'd rather a quick dose of potent spider venom. T'would solve the problem with so much less mess." Morrigan huffed. "And I asked you to stop calling me that ridiculous pseudonym. My name is Morrigan and you shall address me as such."

"Never gonna happen Morri-bear. Never gonna happen." Lan dismissed with a smirk.

Morrigan frowned at her. "I am not above 'mauling' as you put it. T'would be but a moments work…"

"Ha! I'm wearing my armor now, sweetness. I believe you will have a much harder job of it this time around."

"Hm. I am sorely tempted to test that theory. Keep pushing and I just might."

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty! Now can we stop fighting? Please?" Alistair stuck his oar in, moving between the two women, just in case.

Ignoring the loud laugh from Lanaura and particularly withering glare he received from Morrigan he continued. "Anyway. Now you're here Lan, we can break this thing. I must admit I've been quite looking forward to it."

Lanaura clicked her tongue. "Oh yea. Bigass creepy thing over there, how did I forget about that. What _is _it exactly?" She asked, turning to regard the object.

"T'is called an _Eluvian_, an artefact from long ago." Morrigan explained. She walked over to stand in front of it, crossing her arms in thought.

"The ancient Elves once used these mirrors for long distance communication and transportation. However in the centuries since then no one has been able to activate them properly. This one seems to have been corrupted with the Darkspawn Taint, rendering it completely unusable…" Morrigan trailed off, sounding particularly bitter for some reason or another.

"Yes, and as we agreed, Sten gets to break the creepy mirror now that Lanaura's back. Sten! Smash!" Alistair cried, pointing at the cursed object.

Sten growled low in his throat at the order, but complied regardless. Yanking his blade from its sheathe he let loose a bellowing cry, rushed forward and brought his sword down in a brutal arc.

The Mirror shattered instantly under the Qunari's powerful blow, clattering loudly against the stone pedestal that was its home. Instantly the dark feeling of corruption in the room vanished, the Taint disappeared. Everyone in the room save Morrigan breathed a sigh of relief.

"It is done." Sten solemnly stated the obvious.

"Phew! Glad that's over. Looks like we're in the clear!" Lan happily cried.

Now, as most people know, Fate just _loves_ fuckin with people. The _instant_ the words left Lanaura's mouth, an ear splitting female scream echoed through the ruins.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?" Alistair couldn't help but ask, tactless as always.

"Shut up Alistair! Let's move!" Kallian yelled.

As one the present members of Team Warden rushed through the door and out into the hallway, nearly running face first into the _very_ surprised Tia Mahariel, who happened to be stood outside the door at the time.

"Hey, the heck was…?" Tia began as the team rushed past her, only to be bodily grabbed by the seven foot Valkyrie of the group.

"Oi! Put me down dammit!" Tia yelled at her kidnapper, struggling fiercely as she was carried at a full tilt through the halls.

"Shut up Tia! You're coming with us!" Lan ordered, her tone all business. "We get to find out what's happened and you're coming too!"

Any further argument by the captured Elf was cut off by a loud, panicked barking ahead of them. "Muffins?" Alistair panted as the skidded to a stop in front of the nervous War Hound.

"What's the matter boy?" Kallian asked. "Where did it come from?"

Muffins barked, gestured with his head for them to follow, and then dashed off through one of the side doors. The same one that he had led Elsa into a few minutes ago.

"Oh no… Elsa!" Lanaura shouted, the terrible realization flashing through her mind.

She shot forward after the canine, the rest only a beat behind her. In through the room they flew, down a couple more corridors until at last they ran down a flight of stairs and into what seemed to be a huge Library of all things.

There, curled up in one of the corners lay Elsa, shivering and groaning in invisible torment.

Tia was unceremoniously dumped on her ass as Lanaura and Kallian rushed to the prone Ice mage. "What's wrong with her!" Lanaura shouted.

"How in Makers name should I know?! Kallian shouted back. "Wynne, we need you here!"

"Move aside, let me get to her!" The mature healer ordered, hands already glowing with healing Magic.

Lanaura got quickly out of the way, but only taking a couple steps back to let the healer through.

After a second of working, Wynne frowned heavily. "I can't find anything wrong, there are no injuries or sickness. But there _must_ be a problem! What's happened to you girl!" Wynne demanded of their invalid teammate.

As if her words were a trigger, Elsa suddenly screamed again, making everyone step back in surprise. She spazamed violently several times, knocking the two women next to her away. This was where Lanaura and Sten decided to take action, both rushing forward to restrain the struggling Mage before she could hurt herself.

This lasted for near on a minute before Elsa suddenly arched her back, the rest of her muscles locking up and her eyes and mouth opening in a silent scream.

Until at last she collapsed, bonelessly flopping to the cold stone floor. Fortunately, she was still breathing.

Surprisingly, despite their great strength Lanaura and Sten were panting. Holding the woman down had taken more out of them than they could have guessed. She suddenly seemed much stronger than she looked.

"Good…" A panting Wynne commented. "Let's hope that's the last of… whatever that was. Now we just have to figure out what caused it…" She trailed off.

"It might have had something to do with the cracked Phylactery that has just fallen out of her hand." Morrigan casually remarked, easily as she would the weather.

One beat as the group processed that. Then another. On the third however…

Wynne gasped mightily in shock and was instantly springing away far more dexterously than her age may have implied. "Everyone! Away from her! NOW!" She yelled.

Sten and Kallian obeyed, but with a little hesitation on the Warden's part. "What's the problem Wynne?"

"She may be possessed! Blood Gems are a very dangerous thing. We have no way of knowing what was trapped in there!" Wynne explained, gripping her Mage's staff tightly.

"I have no idea what's going on…" Lanaura mumbled, still on her knees next to the ill Mage.

"Lanaura! Get away from her!" Kallian ordered.

"Ah, cmon guys, it's Elsa! What could possibly-"

Elsa sudden gasping interrupted her. She shot straight up and clutched at her chest, breathing heavily.

"Oh thank the Light, Elsa, you're ok!" Lanaura breathed a sigh of relief.

"L-Lanaura? How did you… EH!"

She was shut off with a gasp as the much bigger, much _stronger_ blue woman suddenly wrapped the Ice Mage in a tight hug.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again! You'll worry me to death!" Lanaura ordered of the Ice Mage, who was slowly turning the colour of her element.

"I-I won't…" Elsa managed to force out.

She was blessedly released after a few seconds. "Good, good. What happened to you anyway?"

Still gasping for breath, Elsa couldn't respond for a few seconds. "Muffins… Muffins lead me down here… I found that thing under a book…"

Wynne sighed heavily, putting her staff away. "Well, It looks as though we are safe for the moment. But I _will_ be running a full check on you later on young missie. Did the Phylactery show you something?"

Elsa only nodded, still reeling from her ordeal. "It… was… It was an Elf, I think. Yes… From a long time ago…"

The spell casters in the room blinked at that. "Really? Did it know anything about the Eluvian?" Morrigan asked, suddenly very interested.

"No…"

Morrigan's shoulders slumped. "I suppose t'was too much to ask…" She sighed.

"It was like… a battering ram in my mind, forcing… Memories into me." Elsa breathlessly explained. " It called itself an Arcane Warrior, and gave me all of its memories. I think… I could do it now…" Elsa murmured to herself more than anything.

But, she had said it just loud enough. "What!" Tia yelled at the top of her lungs.

They all looked at the firebrand Elf to see her shakily pointing a finger at the Human Mage, disbelief written blatantly on her face. "No…. No, no, no, no, no, no, No! One of the lost arts of the Dalish, one of our most powerful, that no one has practiced for hundreds of years and a _Shemlen_ is the one who gets it?! This is _shit_!"

The rest of the group stiffened. "Well it's not like it's her fault is it? She just happened to find the... _thing_ first." Alistair reasoned, only to be ignored completely.

Elsa, as if suddenly realizing she was in a room _full of people_ who were all looking _directly at her_ clammed up like nobody's business, curling up and pressing her face into her knees to escape the attention.

"I have to tell the Keeper… She has to know about this…" Tia muttered to herself. "You're going to tell her _everything_ Shem_ . _You have no idea how big this is for the Dalish!" She demanded of Elsa, taking a couple steps forward.

Lanaura was on her feet and between the two in an instant. "You need to back down." She warned.

"Not on _this_ I won't! She has knowledge that the Dalish thought we lost, and we need it back!" Tia shouted back, stopping all the same.

"Enough!" Kallian interrupted, seeing things beginning to get out of control. "Okay. We'll let your Keeper know. Give the woman a chance to sort herself out first for Maker's sake!" She admonished.

Turning to the others she started dishing out orders. "Alright guys we are done here. Pack up and meet up outside. We'll head back to the Dalish camp for now. Figure out where we're going next."

The rest of the group took the command with ease, tromping out of the room in a near silence. Cause, cmon. Small talk wasn't exactly the group's strong suit.

Kallian quickly followed, but not without leaving Lanaura with the instructions to help Elsa up and outside with the rest.

This left Tia, Lanaura and Elsa alone in the decrepit Library.

Ignoring the hot-tempered redhead for a moment, Lanaura turned down to the still hiding Elsa. "Hey, they're gone. C'mon. Let's get you up now." She told the shy woman, helping her to her feet.

They started towards the door, Lanaura helping the still shaking Mage stand steady. She paused for a moment, then turned her head to regard the Elf.

"Well. We're leaving. You want a ride back to camp it's leaving soon." She said.

"I still haven't found Tamlen." Tia shot.

Lanaura sighed. She turned fully around and looked at her. "He's dead. You know that." She bluntly informed.

Tia flinched, not able to meet Lanaura's gaze.

"He's dead, because if he had the same thing you did he had _no chance._ I had to pull a minor miracle out of my ass to save you. I couldn't have done that again, even if you _had _ found him. And that was two days ago. Let it go, bury your friend and move on. Living is the only thing you can do for him now."

That uncharacteristic bout of seriousness over, Lanaura and Elsa turned away and left the room.

Tia was left alone, deep in the ruins of a dead civilization. She simply could not deny the strange woman's words, they were simply… true.

Standing there in that broken room, Tia Mahariel truly accepted the fact that Tamlen was lost to them. The boy she had known since birth, one of her best friends, was truly dead.

"Oh Spirits… How am I going to tell Merrill?" She moaned.

She was alone, no possible witnesses, no one would know. And so, Tia allowed the grief to overcome her and was unable to keep back the tears for her stolen friend.

* * *

**_Jaeso:_**Hello. Nice and simple.

_**Antiana:**_Goodbye.

That's it! Have fun guys!

READ, REVIEW AND I'LL LOVE YOU!


	6. One hectic night

**Author's alert!: **

**The shipping poll has been completed, check the Author's note for the results. For now, enjoy the** **chapter!**

* * *

The group milled around the entrance to the cave, the common feeling amongst them being _get the hell out of Dodge, FAST._

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long for their tardy not-quite-member. She emerged from the ruins a few minutes after Lanaura helped the still shaky Elsa outside. Stoically refusing to speak to anyone she simply waited in sullen silence for her ride to appear.

Anyone with eyes could see that she'd been crying, but they all knew better than to ask. Her glare promised pain, swiftly and brutally delivered with the closest available implement.

Shrugging off their prickly tagalong's mood the group set about the business of breaking their camp, while Lanaura and Wynne looked after their stricken Warden Mage. Along of course with Muffins who was whining pitifully and rubbing his massive head against her shoulder in a futile, yet adorable gesture of sympathy.

Despite Muffin's aid Elsa wasn't doing well, but then again she had just been basically mind-fucked. A feeling Lanaura knew all too well. Not the most pleasant of sensations, it always left her feeling ill. But Elsa seemed to have it far worse.

In fact, things had only seemed to get worse for the mage. She was hunched over on the ground, knees hugged tightly to her chest. She looked absolutely wrecked. Clearly the effects of the vial of concentrated mind-fuckery had yet to run their course.

Having not set camp as the rest had, Lanaura was left with nothing to do but watch anxiously as Wynne did… whatever the heck she was doing. Seriously, having your only hint being glowing green hands does not help the layman identify just what the heck is going on. Especially not one as magically unformed and/or simply uninterested as Lanaura was.

"So…" Lanaura asked at length, pacing behind Wynne restlessly. "What are you doing, exactly?"

"I'm checking to see if the Phylactery left any hidden surprises in Elsa's mind. At the same time, I'm running a very basic diagnostic spell. I do not believe it will turn anything up, but it will have to do before I can start a full examination at the Dalish camp." Wynne patiently explained.

"Oh, I see…" Lan trailed off, continuing to pace. Elsa suddenly winced, and in a flash Lan was stood over Wynne's shoulder. "What, what!" Lan asked, a tinge of panic in her voice.

"Nothing Dear, nothing at all. I just pressed a little hard, no need to worry." Wynne explained again, never removing her hands from Elsa's head, the flow of green energy not flickering for a moment.

"Oh, I see…" And back she went to pacing. "By the way, what exactly just _happened?_ Cause the Draenei is about as lost as a Murloc in the desert."

Wynne blinked.

"What is a Murlo-Oh you know what, never mind." Wynne began before thinking better of it. "Come to think of it, that is actually a very pertinent question. Elsa dear, do you feel up to telling us what happened in more detail?"

A deep shudder and an emphatic shake of the head from the woman answered that question nicely.

"Ok dear." She soothed.

Apparently finished her magicstuff, Wynne pulled her hands away from Elsa's head slightly, the soothing green glow fading away.

"Alright, I think it's best if I put you to sleep for a while. It should give your subconscious some time to sort through the memories. One can forget that the Fade can be a help at times as much as it is a hindrance." Wynne said with a calm smile.

She turned to glance back at the still pacing Warrior. "You can transport her back to the Dalish with no issues can't you?" She asked.

Lan stopped pacing and nodded. "Course. I'll just chuck her in the sidecar. She'll be fine." She turned her attention to the shivering Mage, kneeling next to her and placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll put you down in my tent. Should be a bit more comfortable than a bedroll, yea?" She said with a smirk. She glanced over at the working majority of the group, before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially into her ear. "Let's not tell Alistair about my tent. He'd just demand naps and a place to store his cheese. It'll be our little secret, mkay?"

That actually got a chuckle from Elsa. A feeble, watery chuckle but a chuckle nonetheless. "Thank you, Lana." She near whispered.

"Heh, it's no problem. I'd do it for anyone. You rest up Snowflake, we got this." Lan reassured, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

Wynne's hand returned to Elsa's temple and with a quick pulse of green Elsa slumped sideways. The not quite fully prepared Lanaura caught her before she hit the ground.

Gathering Elsa in her arms, the Draenei casually summoned her Chopper. She rose to her feet, lifting the mage as if she were light as a babe.

As Lanaura settled their comatose companion into her sidecar Wynne sighed heavily as she rose to her feet. "That girl… It's just one thing after another for her."

Job done, Lan turned to regard the healer. "What do ya mean?" She asked.

"She has had such a hard life. She has had to face far too many trials for one so young… And now, she's a Warden, one of four, just _four_ people left in Ferelden who can stop this Blight. It is a heavy burden to bear, as I'm sure you well know Lanaura."

Lan cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, what's that about me?"

Wynne blinked. "You are a Warden as well. You must know what an important duty that is?" She asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.

"Uh, noooooo…" Lanaura replied, very confused. "I was simply told that if I did a thing I could kill some Old God. And that is a very enticing prospect. So I signed up. That's all there was to it. Maybe not the smartest thing I've ever done, but hey. I get to kill an Old God. That's Okay with me." Lan shrugged.

Wynne's jaw dropped. She simply couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You… are you serious?"

"No I'm not silly, I'm Lanaura! Hah, dad joke!"

Wynne couldn't process that. She stood there for a few seconds, mouth opening and closing with wide eyes, looking for all the world like a slapped fish.

"I-I-I can't… What! The Wardens are a sacred order, with traditions that go back centuries! Theirs is a burden that one holds for _life!_ How can you be so cavalier about it!" She gasped.

"Waait, Life? Why's this the first I've heard of this?" Lanaura shook her head in disbelief. "Honey, I got a _lot_ of life left. I mean, the only reason I decided to join up in the first place is cause the Alliance has no need for the guilds right now. I was hella bored and this is my idea of a _Holiday._"

And just like that, Wynne was reduced back to slapped fish.

"Besides, I'm more interested in the whole, Arcane Warrior bit. I mean yea, Mages where I'm from can use swords, but those are just foci…"

"They're Mages who use spells to enhance their strength and speed, allowing them to wear proper armor without having to have the raw physical strength to do so and fight on the front lines while still being able to weave spells." A new voice cut in.

Tia walked over, deciding to shunt herself into the conversation. "Along with that, there are several spells the Arcane Warriors of old used to use. But the spells were lost centuries ago to our people, around the fall of the Dales."

_That_ got Lanaura's attention.

"Wooooah. So to all intents and purposes, Snowflake's like a Paladin? Or a Death Knight? THAT'S SO COOL!" She squeed.

"Hm. I have no idea what either of those things are. But in any case they still need to be able to wield a sword to be worth shit. She doesn't look the type."

Lanaura just scoffed, dismissing her point with a wave of her hand. "Please. _I'm_ here. I'll have that girl ship-shape and kicking all kinds of ass in no time."

"I hardly think…"

"So…What happened to Wynne?"

Whatever Tia happened to be thinking proved irrelevant as the rest of the group had finished packing and joined them.

Alistair had been the one to ask the inevitable question, but everyone else was eyeing the stunned healer in confusion. Tia simply pointed at Lanaura. "Don't look at me."

As one the group blinked, then turned to stare at the blue Warden.

"What?"

Kallian facepalmed. "Maker's tits Lan…"

"I didn't do anything!" Lanaura hotly defended.

"Whatever, it dosen't matter. We're good to go. How's Tia getting back?" Kallian asked.

"With me I guess. You're going to have to take where Elsa normally sits. That cool?" Lan turned to address their Dalish.

Tia sighed, but nodded. "I can do that. You did give me the best sword I've ever seen. I can handle hugging you for a while." She deadpanned.

Lan grinned at her, tossing her a wink. "Hey, you never know. You might just enjoy it." She said, a sultry undertone in her voice and the light of mischief in her eyes.

Tia just rolled her own and ignored her, taking her place on the chopper.

The rest of the party took that as their queue, and mounted up. With a chorus of horse noises the group set off at a run towards the Dalish camp.

It took five minutes to realize they'd left Wynne behind, still stood there rebooting.

* * *

The Dalish camp was bustling with activity when the party returned. Everyone was at work, packing up everything nonessential or time-consuming, preparing to move at the drop of a hat. They were glad to see that their warnings of Darkspawn nearby were being heeded, every able bodied Elf was carrying a weapon of some kind.

Marethari met them outside her aravel as they dismounted, grim faced. "_Andaran atish'an_ Wardens. What news do you bring?" She asked.

"Greetings, Keeper. Not good news I'm afraid." Kallian informed. She turned back to her party. "You're fine to go. Get some rest, we're back on the road proper tomorrow. Alistair, Wynne and Lanaura please stay."

"_Lethallan,_ you as well." Marethari added.

Responses of mixed enthusiasm sounded out and the party broke up, each to do whatever they wanted.

"Just gimmie a sec boss. I'm going to put Snowflake down for a while in my tent." Lan explained. She gathered the knocked out warden up and departed with her in her arms, vanishing quickly amongst the tents.

The remaining group were quickly ushered into Marethari's Aravel and each took seats inside. "Well, I suppose there is nothing for it. What's happened?" Marethari asked. She looked resigned, drawn and unnaturally _tired._

"Well…" Alistair began. "We found what Tainted your elves. It was a mirror, corrupted by the Darkspawn. We destroyed it. With no big Taint magnet in the area, you should be a little safer now."

Marethari simply nodded. "Good. And of Tamlen?"

Tia was the one to take that question. "I searched the ruins from top to bottom. I couldn't find even a trace of him." She murmured.

"And by now the Taint would have killed him, or worse. I'm sorry." Alistair said.

Marethari stilled and then let out a long breath. "I see. I had suspected as much. Thank you all for looking in any case. Now at least we can set him to rest. It may bring a little comfort."

"Keeper." All eyes in the tent turned to face the slim elf with the fancy sword. "We may not… We may not have found Tamlen, but did find something else."

"Oh? Explain."

"The secrets of the Arcane Warrior, Keeper."

One beat, then two…

"What!" Marethari gasped. "How!"

"I can answer that." Wynne cut in. A swiftly administered Lanaura Cookie had set the elder mage back to normal, if more than a little bit pissed off at the Draenei.

"Elsa, our other mage, accidentally touched a phylactery in the old ruins, with the spirit of an ancient Elven warrior inside. It forced it's memories onto her. We don't know the full effects yet, but she said she could fight just like an Arcane Warrior." She explained.

Marethari was astonished. Such a trove of information… It could be ground breaking!

"That is… truly amazing. Do you think she could teach it to us? Such lost lore is incredibly important. It would mean everything."

Kallian shook her head. "We don't know. We put Elsa to sleep for now, let her sort out the memories. She was a little messed up by the whole thing. And even when she wakes, we shall be leaving by morning. Our mission cannot wait."

"I see. That is unfortunate, but I can understand." Marethari granted. Ignoring Tia's angry shout, she continued. "But, may I ask something of you. When the Blight is over, would you return and teach the skill to the Dalish?"

Kallian nodded. "Of course."

Tia broke in with an angry snort. "Seriously! You are just taking the word of a Flat-ear and a Shem?"

Marethari glared at her cynical clan member. "I'm not taking the word of a Flat-ear and a Shemlen _Lethallan. _I'm taking the word of a Warden. And it would pay for you to be a bit more courteous to them." She rebuked.

Tia scoffed. "Why? Not like we'll ever see them again."

"Yea…" Alistair spoke up. "About that… Keeper, could you?"

Tia suddenly got a very bad feeling. The uncomfortable shuffling of the others didn't help. "Could you _what_, Keeper?"

Marethari sighed. This was not going to go well. "Yes _Lethallan. _The Wardens are leaving in the morning. And… You will be going with them."

Tia's jaw dropped and she recoiled as if physically struck, disbelief etched in every line of her face. "I… What? You can't be serious?" She breathed.

"_Lethallan…_" Marethari sighed. She stood and walked over to the other Dalish, placing a hand on her brow.

"Allright, I'm here! What's going on?!" A new and very loud voice cut into the dark atmosphere in the Aravel. But for once, Lanaura was completely ignored.

"Can't you feel it? The corruption? We slowed its progress, pushed it back. But it is not gone. You are pale, your skin is hot to the touch… it's still there. Within days it will return, and stronger than before. The Wardens can help you permanently, but there comes a price. You must become one of them."

Tia just sat there, completely dumbstruck. This couldn't be happening, could it?

"There… There's no other way?" Tia said at last, her voice so very small.

"None my child. As well as the taint, the Dalish clans signed agreements centuries ago to assist the Wardens in times of Blight. You will be our contribution."

Tia nodded, slowly. "Okay. I'm sorry Keeper, but I need to go. I need to be alone right now."

The Keeper nodded sadly. "Of course, take your time. But please, tell _Haren_ Paivel to prepare a burial service for Tamlen. We may not have a body to return to the earth as we should, but we can still mourn as is proper."

Tia stood and nearly rushed from the tent, pushing past the much taller Warden on the way without so much as looking at her.

"Well that was a thing that… happened." Lan muttered to herself, before moving over and taking Tia's vacated spot on the bed.

"I shall also go, I should be checking on Elsa. Where did you put her Lanaura?" Wynne asked as she rose to her feet.

"I left her in my tent, it'll be an easy find."

"Then I shall depart. Thank you for your hospitality Keeper."

And after a quick few words of direction from Lanaura she left.

Marethari slumped back into her chair with a world weary sigh. "That went about as well as expected…" She mumbled with a weary chuckle.

"Will she do it?" Alistair asked.

Marethari nodded. "She will. She may not understand the debt she owes you, but she shall do as her Keeper instructs. She will follow, and be what she needs to be. You said you were leaving tomorrow, where will you go?"

"We haven't decided yet. We've got options, but not much else from there." Kallian explained. "Which is why I had you join us Lan. I would have had Elsa here too, but she's out."

Lan nodded. "All the Wardens get to put their viewpoint in? Makes sense. So, what are our options then?"

"Well, we had contracts for the Mages, Dalish Elves and Dwarves. We've already got the Mages…" Alistair began.

"And I shall make sure to put the word out to the other Dalish clans. We shall be moving north, and pass through other Clans territory on the way. The Dalish will be there when you need them." Marethari supplied.

"And that, even better. So now we only have the Dwarves to deal with. But there is one more place we should go. I was raised in Redcliffe, by the Arl there, Arl Eamon. His men weren't at Ostagar, the King thought he didn't need them. And we all know how that turned out."

Alistair's brief moment of melancholy was quickly shaken off.

"But, it turned out great for us. The Arl will help us, I know he will. His men will be a huge help." Alistair explained.

Beside him, Kallian was looking quite uncomfortable with the idea for some reason. "I don't know Alistair, he's under no compulsion to help. He could just tell us to sod off. Not to mention what that Knight you met in Lothering said. He could be dead by now."

Alistair turned to her, looking astonished. "What are you talking about? Of _course_ he'll help us! And while I know that Arlessa Isolde and I had our differences even if he _is_ dead, Maker forbid, she isn't stupid enough to ignore the threat of the Blight!"

Kallian scoffed. "Yea, course. Not like there's a civil war happening right now or anything…" She said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, true… But that's not Arl Eamon's fault now is it? It's Loghain's! Look we need all the help we can get and I don't understand why you don't want to go!" Alistair countered, his voice rising.

"Because we don't need some flaming _noble's_ help! It's not like they ever helped anyone but themselves anyway!" Kallian shouted back.

That gave Alistair pause. Not so much the content of her words, but the pure venom in them.  
Kallian had spat the word _noble_ out like it was putrid.

"What does that mean?" Alistair asked. Very carefully.

Kallian seemed to catch herself. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "You can't trust nobles, is what it means. I don't like it. It's sure to be just a huge waste of time we don't have. I say we head to Orzammar as soon as possible. They at least _have_ to help us." She continued in a much calmer tone.

"Mind if I look at a map?" Lanaura interrupted. "If at the very least, to stop mommy and daddy fighting?"

Both of the senior Wardens blinked, and looked at the huge blue woman they had managed to forget for a moment.

Alistair passed one over to the Draenei with a sheepish smile.

She gave it a quick look over, identifying both Orzammar and Redcliffe, and where Alistair had marked their current location. After a moment, she glanced up and cocked a bemused eyebrow at their leader.

"Uh, Kalli? You realize that Redcliffe is on the way to Orzammar anyway?"

Kallian blinked. "No it's not." She countered.

"Uh, yea it is? The quickest way to Orzammar passes right through."

"Not if we go via Denerim."

"What do we need in Denerim exactly?" Alistair asked.

"We need to resupply of course." Kallian replied, as if she were talking to a particularly slow child.

"Yea we did…" Alistair replied, one eyebrow cocked up high. "But that was before Lan showed up. The woman pulls _banquets_ out of her _bag_ for Makers's sake. Food is not a thing we need. Anything else, new armor or weapons and the like we can find in Redcliffe as easily as Denerim." Alistair shot down her point.

Kallian had nothing on that much to her chagrin. So instead she settled for growling in frustration.

"Boss, look." Lanaura cut in. "I think it's best if we head to Redcliffe. Even if they throw us out with the chamber pot, we can just keep moving and go straight to Orzammar. Alistair's right. If what you've told me about the Darkspawn is true we'll need all the help we can get." Lan explained.

Kallian debated the idea for a few moments in her own head, clearly still against the whole thing. But after a moment she realized that she had nothing to counter Lan's point with.

"Fine…" She ground out, the words clearly distasteful. "But I'm calling it now. They'll screw us. They'll use us and dump us, 'cause that's just what they fucking do. They're all lying bastards and this is going to go badly for us, I guarantee it!"

And with that, she stormed out. She missed Alistair reacting as if she'd punched him in the face, or Lanaura's concerned look.

"Well. That happened too. You know what her problem is?" Lan asked, trying to lighten the moon.

Alistair jumped slightly at Lan's question.  
"Oh, uh… No. I've got no idea." He murmured, still seemingly shaken up at Kallian's parting comment.

"I think it's quite obvious that she has strong distaste for human nobility." Marethari stuck her oar in.

The two Wardens jumped slightly and turned back to her, both having honestly forgotten the small woman.

"Yea, that sounds about right…" Lan mused. "But what could have happened for it to get like this…"

* * *

It was getting dark by the time Lanaura left the Aravel. The great bonfire in the middle of the camp had been lit, taking most of the bite out of the chill air of the early autumn south.

She found Kallian staring into the fire, clearly still riled up. Her hands were occupied by violently sharpening her short-sword, but her mind was clearly elsewhere.

Muffins the war hound was splayed on the ground next to his Mistress, resting his heavy muzzle comfortably on her feet. He let out a pitiful whine as the warrior approached.

Lan sat next to her, pulling her own care kit from her bag. Most swords on Azeroth were enchanted to stay ever sharp, never needing such mundane maintenance.

However the process of sharpening a sword was something the blacksmith in Lanaura found exceptionally soothing. That and washing her hair of course.

So she pulled a couple of her emergency daggers from her bag. These she had made herself, and skipped the self-sharpening enchantment just for this purpose. She began slowly and carefully honing the edges of the Ghost Iron blade, just relaxing after the last few days of stress and blood.

The two sat in silence for a while, working on their respective projects.

At last, as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the tree-tops, Lanaura finally broke. "All right I'll just ask it. You going to tell me what that was about?" She asked, glancing at her companion.

Kallian sighed heavily. She eased off the violence in her sharpening, clearly calming down but needing something to do with her hands.

"It's hard to explain. You're not from here Lan, you don't know what it's like for us Elves. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I think elves like Tia have the right idea…"

Lan didn't respond. She clearly wasn't done.

"You heard what Tia called me earlier. Flat-ear? Well, that's what the Dalish call City Elves. Elves like me. We live in human cities, in slums called Alienages. Aint allowed to live anywhere else, save for our masters homes if we're servants. Disease, poverty, crime rampant, they're horrid places to live. And yet, they're still home. Not that we have much of a choice. "

Kallian sighed heavily.

"And that's without even counting the Humans. You haven't seen it yet, we haven't passed through any human cities. But you will. Elves are treated like dirt by humans. Were used as little better than slave labor, looked down on and beaten in the streets. Try to go to the guard, they laugh and beat you some more themselves. Either that, or arrest you for something they made up and slap you with a fine you can't pay. And you can't even protect yourselves either, no elf is allowed to carry weapons in the city."

She paused, organizing her thoughts.

"And then, there are the _nobles_." She spat. "They're even worse."

She took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing.

"My mother and I were very close. Family means _everything_ in the Alienage. They're the only ones you know you can trust. Anyway, my mother taught me everything I know. How to survive, how to fight. Everything I am is because of her."

She sighed again, still staring into the fire. When she continued, her voice is haunted and morose. "Then, when I was fifteen, we were coming back from the Market one day. Before either of us can blink we're surrounded by armed men. House guards. We turn around, and there _he_ is."

Kallian spat on the ground at the memory.

"A noble, only nobles could afford clothes that gaudy. About my age, red-headed. He'd ordered his guards to stop us. You know what the first thing he asked was? 'Where we'd stolen the food.'"

"We of course, told him we'd bought it, and we had! He laughed, and knocked what little we had from Mother's arms. We knew better than to fight, it would only end badly. Then he just, _looks_ at me. I can feel this monster undressing me with his eyes. All he said was 'you'll do.'"

"The guards grab me. Even though I know better, that fighting a noble is going to achieve nothing, I know what this cursed man is going to do to me. So I struggle. He just _laughed_."

Kallian paused for a moment, shuddering slightly at the memory.

"But they forgot about my mother. I guess they didn't think a single elf, and a woman at that could be a threat. They were wrong. She pulls her daggers; she always had a pair on her you see. She kills the two holding me, knocks the noble on his ass and screams at me to run."

Kallian was staring deeply into the fire now, reliving the memories with a haunted look on her face.

"I do. Maker help me I just did what she told me to, and I _ran._ I got to the other side of the market before I made the mistake of looking back."

Kallian shuddered.

"My mother was a fighter, an excellent fighter. Duncan, the man who recruited me into the Grey Wardens, told me that he would have had her with them in an instant. But by then the guard had arrived. Far too many for one elf, no matter how skilled. She still managed to slice that noble a good one on his face." She said with a dark chuckle.

"They managed to restrain her and I watched as that monster shoved a dagger through her heart. I didn't see anything else, I kept running."

Kallian stopped for a while, just staring into the flames. Muffins whined again and pat her knee sympathetically with his paw.

"I never did find out who that noble was. But I will. One day I will. And I'll take my Mother's knife, _this_ knife…" From somewhere on her person she pulls a plain unadorned dagger, letting the firelight play off its surface.

"And shove it in his chest in return." She finished.

After a brief moment the dagger is returned to where it came from and Kallian turns to regard her Draenei friend fully.

"The best part is that's not the only problem I've had with nobles. Sometime I'll tell you about how I got into the Wardens. But I'm not ready to talk about that yet." She explains.

Lanaura nodded. "I understand. We all got some stories we don't want to tell. You don't have to. And I can't do anything about the nobles here, but I can say this."

She returned her dagger to its sheath, stood up, walked over and knelt in front of her Warden friend. Clasping her forearm she continued. "If you find him, I'll clear you a path. Come Guards, come Castle or come Army. There is nothing on this _planet_ that will be able to stop me. By the Na'ru and by Light, I swear it. _Etsi tharry'noun na einai._"

As the last syllable of her promise dropped from her lips, her glowing white eyes flashed with a deep golden light. It didn't take Kallian long to realize this was no simple offer of words. This was a true vow, by the power the Lanaura held above all other things.

Momentarily speechless at the offer Kallian could do nothing more than grasp tighter at Lanaura's forearm. "Thank you…" She eventually managed to say, her voice quiet and thick.

Lan released her friends arm and stood, flashing the elf an easy smile. "No problem. If anything happened to my sister I'd feel the same way. Least I can do." She shrugged.

Kallian paused. That was news to her. "You have a sister?" She asked.

Lanaura blinked. "Oh, have I not told you?"

Kallian shook her head.

"Well, how 'bout that. Yea I got a sister. An identical twin to be exact. Her name's Telona." Lan said.

"Huh. Can people tell you apart?"

"Oh yea. She wears her hair differently. Tends to give it away."

Kallian smiled at that and chuckled lightly. "Yea, I can imagine."

They shared a small laugh, just releasing the tension of the last few minutes. Then out of nowhere Lanaura went ridged. Her jaw fell open in and her eyes shot comically wide.

Instantly Kallian was on her feet, a miffed and displaced Muffins ignored. "What, what is it?"

Ever so slowly, Lanaura turned her horrified eyes down to meet Kallian's own.

"I think I might have just broken Wynne."

* * *

The two Wardens and one dog rushed through the camp, barreling towards where Lan had parked her laws of physics destroying residence.

Leading the way like a seven foot tall pace car was Lanaura, her warden superior trailing in her wake.

"What did you do!?" Kallian shouted at her.

"No time to explain!" Lan shot back. "We're here!"

"We're whe-Woah!" Kallian yelled in surprise when Lan put the brakes on _hard_, stopping on a dime in front of an innocuous one man tent.  
She swerved violently to one side to avoid Lan, realizing that running face-first into a huge warrior, who was wearing very solid armor at the time, would be a bad thing.

In doing so, she managed to trip over her own feet and would have been sent sprawling if Lanaura hadn't turned, grabbed the back of her armor in both hands, swung her around like a sack of potatoes and _flung_ her headlong into the tent.

Kallian only had time to curse before she flew like a European Swallow trying to carry a coconut through the tent flaps.

Lanaura ducked in after her, already shoving her hand into the IMBA for the Brain-restoreotron 1000, A.K.A , One of her cookies only to, upon straightening up in her bigger-on-the-inside tent, come to the sudden realisation that she was an idiot.

She hadn't shown the tent to Kallian yet. And she'd just introduced her to it. Poorly. Very _very _poorly.

Fortunately, Wynne had managed to take a few steps inside before realizing what exactly was going on. She was stood a few feet from the door, ridged and still. She looked surprisingly all right, except for the glassy-eyed thousand yard stare and the line of drool running from the corner of her mouth.

Kallian it seemed had flown past her to be stopped by the very heavy sofa in short order, via her head.

She shook off the momentary grogginess and rose to her feet. "What the hell was that-for…?" She trailed off as she realized just what had happened.

She'd been thrown into a small tent, and was now in a house. There was a house, inside of a tent.

_There was a house, inside of a – "Mhmmf!"_

Noticing that particular line of thought, Lan acted quickly. She pulled the very last of her cookies from her bag and shoved in unceremoniously into Kallian's gaping mouth.

It was interesting, Lan thought. To watch the process of emotions on Kali's face. Shock, to indignation, to bliss, shake head, glare. Oh, glare. That one was directed at her.

Delicious treat finished and mind back where it should be Kalian was free to glare daggers at the Warrior. "Explain." She demanded.

Short, sharp and to the point. How very Kallian.

"Ehehe…" Lanaura laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "So… Welcome to my tent."

Kallian rose unsteadily to her feet and took in the room, taking in the cozy abode. "How?" She asked, glancing sideways at Lanaura.

"I will skip all the unnecessary stuff and just say _magic_. Will that answer the question?"

Kallian pursed her lips and gave the room another glance before turning back to Lanaura.

"Yes. Because I don't think I can handle this right now." She deadpanned.

Lanaura shrugged. "Done. Now. What to do about _this_ situation…"

They both turned and looked at the comatose mage doing her best impression of a statue in Lan's living room.

Lan wandered over and waved her hand infront of the woman's face and when that didn't work she poked her in the forehead, then flicked her lightly on the nose.

Wynne did absolutely nothing, not so much as a twitch, much to the Warden's concern.

"Hm. Not good. I seriously think I broke her this time…" Lanaura muttered.

Kallian swore and moved over to stand next to Lanaura. "Well, what do we do now? We need her, she's our only healer."

Lan shrugged. "Cant Snowflake do it?"

Kallian sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Yes, she can, but nowhere near as well. Wynne's been a Spirit Healer for a few decades now while Elsa focused mainly on learning to control her rather… potent Elemental skill." She explained.

Lanaura glanced down at her and cocked an eyebrow. "What in Light's name was that supposed to mean?" The notoriously magically disinterested woman asked.

Kallian shrugged. "Blight if I know. That's just what Wynne told me when I asked what she and Elsa could do aside from _'kill things with ice'_. I have no idea about any of that stuff either."

"Ah." Lan muttered and turned her attention back to their mentally munted mage. "Hmm. This is going to take something special. I don't think cookies are going to cut it this time." She murmured, more to herself than anything.

All of a sudden, she brightened. "I got it!" She cried, turning around and preparing to run in the direction of the kitchen.

Instead of sprinting off like she normally would, she paused mid stride. "Actually… There's something I want to check first and I'm not sure I'll ever get the opportunity again." She said.

She turned back to Wynne and before Kallian could realize what she was doing Lanaura had untied the sash holding Wynne's robe together and yanked it apart.

"What are you _doing!_" Kallian gasped, turning away as quickly as possible and covering her face. Not to hide her _blazing_ scarlet blush mind you. No, not at all.

Lan just laughed. "Oh come on, we're all girls here! And I had to know if these were real. Cause she's got one _fantastic_ pair for her age. Hot 'dayum, you go girl." She said, her attention fully on Wynne's chest.

One appreciative whistle later and curiosity satisfied Wynne's robe was deftly returned to its non-violated state and the seven foot tall space goat turned and skipped, yes, _skipped_, towards her kitchen.

Kallian was left inside a tent that was bigger on the inside, having just watched one of her friends straight up _oogle_ her healer, and was now left alone with said healer. Who just so happened to be broken right at that moment.

Kallian facepalmed. Why-oh-why did she decide to become a Warden again?

_Well._ She thought to herself. _At least it couldn't get any worse…_

"Hello, Kallian, Lanaura? Are you all right? I saw you two running through the camp and I was wondering what…" A female voice with a familiar Orlesian lit began before trailing sharply off.

_Oh Maker why?_

She didn't want to turn around. She really didn't. But she did, and found exactly what she had hoped _not _to see.

Leliana was half in and half out of the tent flap, eyes wide and her jaw dropped as low as it could possibly go as she stared around the room.

"Non, how can this be? It is… It is bigger on the inside!" She muttered in Fereldan, before continuing to mutter to herself in Orlesian.

"Great." Kallian groused with a facepalm. "Now what do I do… Lan!" She shouted over her shoulder.

"Whhaaat?" Lan called back over the sounds of pots and pans clanging.

"We got a problem!"

"What kind of problem?"

"An Orlesian problem!"

"What the void is an Orlesian?"

"Tch. Right, Alien. Leliana! Leliana is an Orlesian."

"Oh, right. So what about her?"

"Leliana stuck her head in here. Now she's broken."

Kallian heard the woman swear loudly from the kitchen, a crashing sound as Lan dropped something, then an even louder swear. "Well, bring her in too. I'll just have to adjust my recipe…" She told the elf.

Kallian shrugged and yanked Leliana fully into the tent-home-thing. She stood her next to Wynne and straightened her up.

_Huh._ Kallian thought. _She's not reacting either_.

"What now?" She called to the other Warden again.

"Now we wait, it takes a bit for me to make this stuff you know. Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Read a book, watch some TV I don't care. Me casa es su casa." Lanaura called back.

"Right, will do!" Kallian yelled back.

_What did she just say? And what in the name of the Maker is a TV?_

"Now I don't know how you did it." A new voice cut in. "But there are _four_ of you in that tent now and t'is a feat that needs ex-ex-explaining…" Morrigan's peeved voice trailed off.

Kallian sighed. Long, deep and heavy.

_Why me Maker? Why me?_

"Lan! We've got another problem…"

* * *

Alistair had poked his head in not too long later, of course. That had sent Lanaura swearing for some reason, and she spent five minutes loudly muttering about cheese and nosy warriors.

And because her life couldn't get any weirder at that point, Sten decided to stick his massive head into the conversation.

Even Kalian had to admit, Sten's reaction was hilarious. He had stuck his head through the flap, taken one long look around the room, seen his posed party members and one _done_ elf then shook his head and backed out without a word.

At least he didn't break as well. Kallian doubted that she could have moved him, and she was hesitant to approach the kitchen to ask for Lan's help.

Some of the sounds coming from the room were unsettling. Like the sound of what seemed to be some high-speed sawing.

And the explosions. _Why_ cooking involved explosions was a question Kalli simply wasn't going to ask.

So now she was sat here on what Lan had called a "couch" staring at her broken party members and searching desperately for something to do.

And just like that, she had an Idea.

No, no she couldn't. No, that was silly. They'd kill her!_ Or would they…_

But she had to admit, the idea was tempting. So very tempting. Even if it was such a _Lanaura_ idea that she wondered just how much the strange Draenei had rubbed off on her.

Yes, she decided. It had been a manic month and a bit, and she deserved a laugh Maker dammit!

With a dark grin that would have made a Death Knight proud she set to work.

* * *

"Aaaaaaand _DONE!_" Lanaura yelled in triumph.

She grabbed her freshly baked batch of delicious, mind-restoring munchables, booted the door to the living room open and bustled through. "Okay, I got this. One for each of-"

And she stopped short, absolutely gobsmacked.

Kallian had just put the finishing touches on her master plan. She stood back from the freshly posed figures of her poor party and turned to regard the Warrior with a smug grin.

"Oh Light almighty…" Lan whispered. "It's perfect…"

Kallian had been busy in the time it had taken Lanaura to make her Brain-Restoreotron 2000s. She had taken advantage of the other's malleable state and posed them in ridiculous and downright indecent positions.

Alistair and Morrigan had been wrapped around each other, pressing their bodies _very_ firmly together. Alistair's hands were pressed on Morrigan's backside and Morrigan's arms were grabbing tight on to Alistair's head, which was currently buried in her neck.

Leliana and Wynne were cheering them on.

"They're going to kill you…" Lan stated with awed respect.

"Ah, but that's the beauty of this plan!" Kallian cried. "Who are they going to blame for this? Their no fun leader, or the notorious flirt and joker?" She asked, smug grin firmly in place.

Lanaura was silent for a few moments. "You're quite possibly the greatest evil mastermind I've ever known…" She whispered.

Kallian just laughed evilly. "That's what I thought."

The tray of deserts was shoved unceremoniously into Kallian's hands. "Here, hold this. I've got something I need to do." Lanaura suddenly announced, vanishing off into one of the side rooms.

She only left Kallian waiting for a moment before she was back, a strange device in her hand. With a grin she held it up to her eye and rapidly started pressing a button on it's top, changing the angle every time.

"What are you doing exactly?" Kallian had to ask.

Lanaura stopped what she was doing, glanced at Kallian and then glanced at the thing in her hand. "Ah, right. New thing." She muttered to herself. "This is called a Camera." She explained, a wicked smile on her face.

"And what exactly does it do?" Was Kallian's tart reply.

"This." Somehow, her grin got even more wicked.

With that vague answer Lan pushed a different button this time. After a moment of clicking and whirring from the thing it suddenly spat out a piece of what looked like paper. When she held it up to Kallian the elf gasped mightily.

"A portrait! So quickly!" She exclaimed.

Lanaura chuckled. "Yup. That's what it does. Instant blackmail. And we have such… _Willing_… models."

The look that passed between the two women was nothing short of evil.

With perfectly synchronized evil laughs, the two got to work.

* * *

"So what are these anyway?" Kallian asked as they finally got around to administering the mind-restoring treats. "They look absolutely delicious." She continued, her mouth starting to water just at the smell of them.

"These my friend, are salted caramel puddings." Lanaura replied, cutting one in half with a fork as she did so. As the fork glided through the rich pudding piping hot, melted, salted caramel flowed like delicious magma from its centre. She scooped one section out with the fork and with a delicate hand popped it into Wynne's gaping mouth.

The moment the treat hit her taste buds the elder mage groaned in bliss. Within seconds her eyes gained their usual sharpness as her wits returned in full.

She groaned again, this time in dizziness and clutched a hand to her forehead. "Oh Maker's breath… What happened? I remember a tent…" She began before everything came flooding back to her.

She shot a deadly glare at a sheepish looking Lanaura. "You did that on purpose didn't you." She asked, her voice low and deadly.

"No! I honestly forgot!" Lan hotly tried to defend herself.

Wynne harrumphed. "A likely story." She muttered. "So, are you going to explain this?" she asked in a louder voice with a sweeping arm around the tent.

Lan nodded. "Yea, in a bit. Just give me a sec to sort the others out, they will want to hear it too and I can't be bothered explaining this more than once. As for accidentally dropping this on you, I'm really sorry. Forgive me?" She asked with a pleading look.

She did look genuinely sorry while Wynne was trying her hardest to stay angry, but her eyes couldn't stop glancing down at the mouth-watering munchy in the Draenei's hands.

"Well… I suppose if you give me the rest of that… whatever that is I'll forgive you. And an explanation! And as long as it doesn't happen again!" She scolded.

"Wohoo! Cooking for the win!" Lan cheered. She quickly handed over the pudding to the healer who wasted no time in daintily devouring it, saving every last mouthful.

From beside the Draenei Kallian sighed. "And once again you get off scott free. I don't know how you do it." She deadpanned.

Lan grinned at her friend. "I'm just that awesome."

* * *

The rest of the party were roused in short order, and none were particularly pleased. Fortunately for Lanaura, the promise of a full explanation and the promise of more puddings where that came from eased their tempers.

For the moment, at least.

"It's like this." Lanaura explained, stood on trial in front of the couch. It made for a comical sight, Lanaura had to admit. Kallian and Leliana were perched on an arm each, Wynne was on the left side and Alistair and Morrigan had somehow managed to be squashed in next to each other.

Making them think it was an accident was one of Lanaura's more subtle manipulations.

Neither looked particularly happy about that, much to Lanaura's amusement. But their ire was directed firmly at her for the time being.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. Pocket dimension storage is quite possibly the best thing ever. Think of this as like… As like my bag. But bigger. And more comfortable. With rooms and shit. It's magic, I don't know how it works but it's awesome and I love it. Next question?"

The group just stared at her.

"What, that's it? That's all you have to say?!" Alistair choked out in disbelief after a moment. "Are you serious? You have a tent that is _bigger on the inside_ and you don't know how it works!"

Lanaura scoffed at that. "Uh, what do I look like, a mage? I didn't make this. All I know is that it's a thing and I own it."

She shook her head in exasperation and dropped unceremoniously onto the coffee table. She took a moment to readjust herself before continuing.

"Lemmie lay it out for yall. I have three professions; I'm a miner, a blacksmith and most of all a Warrior. Now what do those things have in common? They're all about hitting things. I hit things, that's what I do. I'm _damn_ good at hitting things. If a given task does not involve things and the hitting thereof I'm about as useless as a shit flavored sweet. So please don't ask. Cause I don't know."

The group had a moment to digest that before Leliana spoke up. "Um, Lanaura? You're quite possibly the best chef in Thedas. I happen to know for a fact that Cooking requires very little 'hitting things'."

Lanaura blinked. She didn't quite have an answer for that. Cooking was just something she had enjoyed doing for years. Well, maybe not at first. At first it was a thing she _had_ to learn. No one else was doing it for her and she wasn't going to ask Telona to do it.

Not after… well. _That._

It wasn't until she got to Azeroth that she really got into the skill however. There were just so many amazing ingredients to experiment and play with. Not to mention there was just something quite satisfying in giving her raid-mates a hearty meal before their assault on whatever world-ending baddy happened to be the challenge of the week.

"Eh, everybody needs their jarring character inconsistencies." Lan eventually stated with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I believe this charade has gone on long enough!" Morrigan suddenly declared. "You do not know how this works?" She demanded with an expansive wave of her hand.

Lan only shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea. If I found a mage from my world perhaps they could, but I can't. Pretty cool though."

Morrigan nodded. "Well, in that case I believe you. You are something of an idiot after all.(Hey!) And at this point I do not care. I have only one further question. Why did you keep this from us?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

Lan blinked in mild surprise. Morrigan had quite the glare on her. Those somewhat creepy and yet amazingly alluring golden eyes of hers did _work._

Nothing on her guild leaders of course, or Elsa's when she was mad. But hot daym she gave it the good old college try.

"Well…" She started with a nervous laugh. "To be honest, I didn't think it mattered. I wasn't sleeping in it to be fair to the rest of you, so why let you know I had it? I've been sleeping in Kallian's tent, or outside. The only reason I'm using it now is cause Snowflake needed somewhere to sleep that was better than a bedroll."

The group thought that over. It was true; Lanaura had not been using her own tent. More often than not she'd been curled up next to her dragon under the stars.

They ignored Alistair's jealous muttering with the ease of long practice.

But the whole pseudo interrogation was derailed when a door opened on the far side of the room. Elsa the mage stumbled blearily in through the doorway, not recognizing their presence. She walked, grumbling to herself in a language that sounded suspiciously like _elven_ and disappeared into another door.

Lanaura sighed heavily, shocking the group out of their morbid curiosity fuelled trances. "I told her not to go in there…"

Kallian cocked an eyebrow. "Why?" She asked.

Lanaura dropped her head into her hands. "Cause that's my armoury…"

As the words dropped from her lips an _earthshattering _series of crashes boomed from behind the door. Elsa must have stumbled into something she shouldn't have.

The now _very_ awake mage flew back through the doorway. She looked absolutely panicked, eyes wide and wild as she took in the room with lightning fast glances and breathing very hard, nearly hyperventilating.

But the rest of the party wasn't looking at her eyes, or even her chest, as Lanaura was want to do every now and then.

No, they were looking at the two _perfect_ swords made of pure ice gripped in her hands. And not fearfully either, neither sword made even the slightest tremor despite her heavy breath.

On top of that, she stood in a _textbook_ ready position, all loose and tight at the same time. A glance with a warrior's eye confirmed it, her form was as perfect as if she had spent years training.

After a couple seconds Elsa came to her senses fully, blinking rapidly as she cottoned on to the fact that no, she was not going to be attacked and yes everybody _was_ staring at her.

She immediately shied away from the questioning glances, shrinking in on herself as she always did when uncomfortable.

It was only then that she noticed what was in her hands.

She stared at them for a while, examining them with a detached interest. Yup, they were ice. Why were they there, where did they come from?

And why did they feel so _right?_

Eventually she looked back up into the wall of stares.

"What's going on?" She managed to ask.

Kallian facepalmed.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Haiiiii guys! Guess who's back!

So _this_ was a monster. My longest chapter yet written clocking in at over nine thousand words. Yikes!

That brings up something I'd like to ask about, namely chapter length. Is my Seven to Eight Thousand (on average) word chapters fine for you guys, or should I try to keep the word count lower? Lemmie know.

Now! On to the good part. Thanks to those who voted on the shipping poll, which has been decided.

The winner is with a massive Seventy Percent of the vote is... the obvious one.

Lanaura X Elsa! Go team... LanElsa, I guess. Well that's terrible, cant have that. Need a new ship name. RWBY has ruined me for ship names. THEY'RE ALL SO GOOD!

Elsaura? LanElsa? IceAxe? SnowStorm? Is this thing on?

Wow I rant in these notes. Screw it! My notes, my rants.

The other pairings were _ties_ much to my frustration. Uuuuuuugh. Welp, i've decided.

The other pairings will be (as of now at least)

KallianXLeliana and AlistairXF!Cousland! Grats to any who voted for them. It's all thanks to you.

As for my widdle Tia, Maybeeeee TiaXMerrill? I always did like that ship. WE SHALL SEE!

Anywho, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. Seems just way too fillery for my tastes. And WAYYY to much dialogue. AND i hate where I ended it. Seriously tho, this chapter needed to end somewhere. _It just didn't want to end!_ But, next chapter we shall be back to your regularly scheduled plotline.

**Coming up next:**

Storytelling, tearful reunions(and subsequent goodbyes), The team departs and some new faces join the crew. (That's right, faces)

Tootles!

LuckyFractal.


	7. Storytime for Wardens

Let it not be said that Elsa Amell, full Harrowed Mage of the circle of Magi and cryo-kinetic prodigy was un-intelligent.

She was in fact, quite the opposite. She was _very_ intelligent. Behind the horrible people skills, the introversion and the manic-depressive tendencies lay a mind that easily rivalled Morrigan's own, if perhaps without the manipulation skills. And lack of shame.

But at that exact moment, she could be forgiven for being just a little on the slow side. Over the last day she had been in a rather large battle against Darkspawn, been mind-raped by an Ancient Elven vial of blood, knocked out by magic and now was holding two swords like she'd been doing it all her life while having _no idea_ how they got there.

But Elsa was coming to realize that having a particular woman from another planet around basically assured these kinds of crazy shenanigans.

So when she was confronted by the reactions from her companions, ranging from Facepalms from her Warden superior, outright shock on Leliana and Wynne's faces and reluctant interest from their Apostate it took a little to twig as to what was really going on.

It was the two remaining Warden's reactions that at last filled her in. Alistair, poor sheltered boy that he was, was blushing up a storm and looking at everything that wasn't her.

On the other end of the scale entirely was the extra-terrestrial herself. Lanaura was standing there, smirking at her. When she glanced up and met the other woman's eyes Lan tossed her a saucy wink and a thumbs up. "I _knew_ that would look great on you!" She said, giving the mage a shameless once-over with her eyes.

It was of course at that moment that Elsa glanced down and realized that she was not wearing her normal attire. Her usual sky-blue mage robe was currently lying on a chair. Next to the bed. _In the other room._

What she was wearing instead was a warm, blue and lacy nightdress that fell to mid shin. A nightdress that she was fairly certain did not belong to her.

To any who knew her, the adorable squeak, blush and swift plunge into unconsciousness was to be expected.

Kallian slapped her other hand to her face. Double facepalm.

"Lanaura, whose nightdress was that?" She asked through her fingers.

"Uh, mine? Duh?" Lan replied offhandedly as she moved to pick Elsa up.

"Then why is she wearing it?"

"Well she couldn't sleep in that ugly-ass robe of hers could she?" Lan asked rhetorically.

Wynne, who was wearing the exact same robe but in a different color, huffed in indignation. "I don't see anything wrong with them. They may not be the height of Orlesian fashion, but they aren't that bad." She tried to defend the in defendable.

Lan just glanced sideways at her with an eyebrow firmly arched. "You should see some of the stuff that the mages back home wear. Makes that robe look like a bed sheet."

Wynne harrumphed again.

"Well, I'm going to put Snowflake back to bed. I'll see you guys outside."

With that less than subtle dismissal the mistress of the tent-house picked their unconscious mage and vanished back into the bedroom.

"I wonder how short that dress was on _her_…"

Leliana's quiet wonderance froze the party in their tracks. They all turned to stare at the suddenly blushing Orlesian Bard.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" She asked as innocently as she could.

Alistair was suddenly right next to her. "Uh, Leliana. What exactly… d-did you mean?" He nervously, yet very seriously asked.

"Oh, I… I uh…" Leliana floundered. "I saw how long that dress was on Elsa and I had to wonder. Lanaura is at least a foot or two taller than her. It must be rather short on her, don't you think?"

The whole party turned back to stare at the closed door of Lanaura's bedroom.

"Huh." Wynne, Kallian and Morrigan said simultaneously.

They all jumped a second later however at the loud thud that resounded through the tent-house.

Alistair had fainted. The poor grown man had fainted at the thought of Lanaura in a short nightie.

Kallian sighed. Why wouldn't the crazy _stop_. _One week_ of Lanaura's presence, _one week_, and everything she had known was being flipped on her head.

She didn't want to think about what else would happen should she continue to associate with the Draenei.

And thus she came to the crux of the matter. She _needed_ her.

At that moment, in a burst of clarity, a cosmic realisation, a moment of prophetic truth, Kallian knew she was screwed.

She sighed, long and loud. Well, nothing she could do about it now. All that was left was to ride the crazy-train until its eventual destination.

With that rather depressing thought she and the rest left the tent.

None saw the secretive little smile on Leliana's face.

_Oh Alistair… You are just far too easy._

* * *

Lanaura blinked and stared down at the figure lying in the middle of her living room.

"Why is Alistair on the floor?" She asked nobody in particular.

Finding no answer, she simply shrugged. She grabbed the comatose Warden by a shoulder and dragged him out with her, making sure to bump as many things as possible with him on the way out.

Just for funsies.

* * *

"_Anna!"_

The piercing scream tore its way out of Elsa's throat as she snapped back into consciousness. She shot upright in Lana's bed, breathing heavily. Her eyes shot around the room in her panic, looking desperately for something that clearly wasn't there.

After a few more moments of painful non-activity her breathing slowed as she calmed and reason reasserted itself.

She was in Lana's tent, she was alone and most importantly, _Anna wasn't there._

Her sister was safe, well beyond the reach of the Blight, the Darkspawn, Bandits and most importantly…

_Elsa herself._

At length her breathing returned to normal as she ran through some of the meditation exercises that had been drilled so thoroughly into her mind at the Mage Tower.

_Calm yourself, control yourself. Keep composed, keep focused. Do not lose your centre. _

Elsa _hated_ dreams.

Mages and dreams never had a good relationship. Dreams, and by extension the Fade, were where unwary Mages were overcome by the endless stream of daemons seeking to possess them.

Funnily enough, the dreams of daemons had actually stopped altogether after Elsa had taken the Joining. Something she was not-so-secretly relieved by. And should probably mention to Wynne, come to think about it.

On the not so good hand, dreams of daemons had been replaced by dreams of Darkspawn. But she was okay with that. Darkspawn didn't try to possess her. They just wanted to eat her.

But there was one dream that no amount of Darkspawn blood could stop it seemed.

The dream of _that_ day.

Elsa violently shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memories buzzing about her head like flies. There was no point in dwelling, it was long ago. She knew that.

In theory at least.

She slipped out of bed and quickly dressed, trying to distract herself from the buzzing in her head. Her staff was propped uncaringly against Lanaura's chest of drawers, which she promptly retrieved.

The moment her hand grasped the polished wood she felt so much better. For some reason just having a weapon in her hand made her feel safer, more herself, complete. Which was very odd. She'd never felt like that before.

As a test she put the staff back down. The instant the staff left her hands she felt different. Unprotected, unsafe, _naked_ even. Like something was _missing_ from her very being.

She didn't like it all that much.

Picking the staff back up again banished the negative emotions like a fresh breeze banishes dust.

Elsa shook her head. This couldn't do. It must have been something to do with the crazy events of the last day, she reasoned.

Resolving once again to talk to Wynne, or maybe even Lanaura she strode out the door. After all, Lanaura may not know all that much about magic (understatement of the century) she _did_ know about Warrior stuff. She might have some insight on the problem.

She'd never seen the taller woman without some kind of weapon after all.

So at last she left the tent behind, not noticing the thin layer of ice covering the room.

* * *

Night had fully fallen as Elsa stepped out into the Dalish camp. The main fire was burning brightly in the centre and despite the grim tidings the Wardens had brought that morning spirits seemed high among the elves that surrounded it.

Then again, most of them were the brave young souls amongst the Dalish children. Brave, in that they had actually gathered the courage to speak to the _massive, heavily armed alien_ in their midst.

It seemed their anxiety was about as misplaced as Morrigan's sense of feminine modesty. Lanaura was sat _surrounded_ by children with a huge smile on her face. They were pelting her with question after question and Lanaura seemed happy to answer as best she could.

Even after waking up from _that_ nightmare, the sight brought a smile to her face.

Elsa took a seat on a nearby crate, just out of the firelight but close enough to hear what was being said.

She could ask her questions later. For now, this was just too adorable not to watch.

* * *

"What's the biggest thing you beat then!"

"Deathwing. Dragon as big as a castle, if not two." Lan fired back at the youngling without pause.

The collective "Woaaaah" from the kids brought a chuckle.

"How'd you do that?!" One asked.

"Jumped off a flying ship onto it's back with twenty four companions and blew the crap out of it with its own explosive blood."

"Woooooah…"

"Then, after we softened it up, another dude standing on the airship we jumped off hit it with a _huge magic_ _beam_ from a crazy powerful artefact. A crazy powerful artefact that we had to go _back in time_ to get."

"_Woooooah…._"

"And this thing was one _tough_ dragon. Even after that he wasn't quite dead, so we had to go do it the hard way. By _beating it to death with our own hands_."

"Wooooah!"

Lanaura laughed again. Oh kids were too easy. Dangle some of her adventures in their face and they ate out of your hands, if just to hear another story.

And oh how Lanaura loved to tell stories, especially to children. They made the best audience, they got _in_ to a story like no-one else.

A well told story was a powerful thing, at least in Lanaura's eyes. It could make you laugh yourself to tears, then the next moment tug at your heartstrings. They could manipulate and move people like few other things in the universe could.

A story could be the rallying cry around which revolutions were born. A story of a martyr, or a hero.  
Stories were a way to keep a race's history alive. The stories of the past that shaped their culture and their very way of life.

Or they could be simple entertainment, something to lose yourself in one rainy evening by a crackling fire.

Oh yes, Lanaura loved stories. There was a reason they called her _Loremaster_ after all.

"My, my… You have such interesting tales. Our own stories must pale by comparison." A new voice cut into Lanaura's musing.

"That depends on the story, doesn't it?" Lan shot back.

Turning to the speaker, Lan found him to be an elderly elf, wearing simple clothes. Next to him was Keeper Marethari, who had a small smile on her face.

"Warden, I'd like you to meet _Haren_ Paival. Our storyteller." Marethari introduced.

"_Jaeso, Haren._ Good to meet ya." Lan addressed .

"Likewise. The Keeper was just telling me our race's histories sound quite similar. I'd be honoured to share the Tale of the Dalish, if you would share your own?" Paival asked.

"Well, I'd be happy to! But, I think the kids here need a break from my boring stories…"

The loud and ardent denials from the assembled progeny were laughed at, as they should have been.

"So I'd say you should start things off." Lanaura finished.

The Dalish elders chuckled at the Warden's antics. "Indeed. Very well then, no time like the present. Children!" Paival called.

"Hear of the fall of the Dales, and what it is that makes us Dalish."

Paival turned to the woman next to him. "I would be honoured if you would share in the telling, Keeper." He said.

Marethari smiled. "And I would be glad to help. But do begin, it isn't polite to make the Warden wait."

Lanaura and Paival chuckled lightly at that. "No I suppose it wouldn't be. Very well then."

Paival turned back to the children. "Long ago, we were slaves to the humans. Oh yes, Slaves to a human empire built apon the darkest of magic. But eventually that empire fell and we became free.

"We built a homeland in the Dales." Marethari took over. "Worshiping our own Gods, the Creators, and rebuilt our culture lost during our long years of slavery. But the humans would not let us be."

"They were resentful: because we would not worship _their_ gods, because we put _our _people first." Paival took it back. "Over a span of years, their nations became cold to us, refused to trade and associate with us. In their minds, we were blasphemers and cruel tyrants."

"And so, after many years of tensions, the humans declared war on the Dales." Marethari took over once again. "We fought as best we could, but were eventually defeated. And the Dales fell. The _shemlen_ took our lands, dispersed our people, forced us to live in their cities and abandon our gods.  
But we were not broken."

"Many of us refused to relinquish our old ways, the customs that had served us well for so long. We instead chose to scatter to the winds, and wander the lands as far from humans as we could. Now, to survive against the human lords who despise us, we stay scattered. Forced apart until the day the _Elvhenan _have a true home once again."

"So, we shall return the old ways to those who have lost them."

Unexpectedly to the Warden listeners, every single Dalish in earshot joined in to speak the final words.

"We are the Dalish: Keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last of the _Elvhenan,_ never again shall we submit."

After such a solemn ending, Paival's chuckle broke the mood. "And there you have it, our history as we know it in a nutshell. What we've managed to pass down, at least. Leaves a little to be desired when matched up against castle sized dragons, don't you think?"

Lan laughed good naturedly. "I don't know, I'm sure you could throw a dragon in there somewhere. Give it a bit of fire, pun very much intended. But it's still a very important story, and that makes up for a lot I feel. Ah well, my turn right?"

Marethari nodded. "If you would."

Lanaura clapped her hands togeather with a smile. "Fantastic. So!"

She slipped a hand to her belt and rubbed a particular stone. With the customary flash and puff of smoke Sweetie burst to life in the middle of the clearing with a roar.

_That_ woke the camp up. Half the Hunters had bows nocked before they even realized what was going on.

But it was the children's reaction that made it all worth it.

When Sweetie burst free they all screamed and fell down, but their fright lasted but a second. When their brains rebooted they could do nothing more than stare in awe at the huge woman sat astride a dragon in their camp.

* * *

"Show-off."

"Aaah!"

Elsa jumped and promptly fell off her crate in surprise. She hadn't even heard Morrigan step up behind her, but there the witch was. That was _so_ not fair.

"Oh don't be so skittish. I had no intention to harm you; no need to be afraid. If I did, you would certainly be dead. T'would be a good idea to work on that." The older woman admonished.

Elsa's face fell and looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"But enough of that. I've been interested for quite some time about where exactly our companion comes from. It seems it is time to find out."

"What?" Morrigan shot, catching Elsa's questioning look. "I can't be interested? She's not like the fool. She may _pretend_ to be a buffoon, there's more to it. While I've never believed her about her extra-terrestrial origins, her equipment makes me wonder. There's not a magical bone in her body, I can tell. And yet, she pulls dragons from nowhere and has a bag that's bigger on the inside!"

Morrigan paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Everything she does poses more questions, questions I'm determined to find answers for. In time."

* * *

Lanaura couldn't help but grin at the little kiddies faces. Oh, too easy.

She sprang to her hooves on Sweetie's back. "Good evening!" She cried across the camp. "Any of you who have some free time, feel free to come by the fire. Stay a while and listen! As I regale you with the tale of the Draenei!"

Her announcement complete, she dropped back to her butt on Sweetie's saddle. With a couple of pats the Drake herself flopped to the ground as well.

After a quick reward scale-scratch Lan slid out of the saddle and sat down in front of the children, lent up against the hulking form of her favourite mount.

"Well, cmon now. Gather round children, gather round. C'mon sit down. That's the ticket." She prodded. "That includes you two." She indicated the elder Elves.

Both shrugged before joining their young charges sat in a semicircle around the green Proto-Drake.

When everyone was seated and comfortable, Lanaura began her tale.

"Tell me, have you ever looked up at night, at those countless, beautiful stars and wondered? Have you ever thought about what might be out there, in that endless space? Well, I _know_ what's out there. My people, the Draenei, have been traveling those stars for millennia, in search of a home we can call our own."

"Woooooahh…" The kids could only answer.

"Heh, Indeed. But my people did not always wander. No, we had a home once. Twenty five thousand years ago the Draenei were known as the Eredar. And on our home world of Argus we built a civilisation that outshone anything we've ever found."

"The Eredar were a highly intelligent race, with a keen affinity for magic. They were lead by three great men, Archimond, Kil'Jaeden, and the Prophet Velen. Using the great Ata'Mal Crystal, a mysterious artefact of great power, we built a shining and wondrous society. We were the undisputed _rulers_ of our little corner of the galaxy. Unfortunately for us, someone noticed that fact."

"The three were approached by a Titan known as Sargeras, the Fallen. He claimed he was impressed by the things we had achieved. He offered us even more knowledge and power, in exchange for loyalty to him and him alone."

"Two of the Three were all for the idea, but the third was hesitant. Prophet Velen meditated in the Ata'Mal temple, and the great crystal granted him a vision. A vision that terrified him to the core."

"He saw the terrible consequences of the deal. The Eredar who allied with Sargeras were bound to his will, and changed into demons. He saw the full might of the Burning Legion, an unholy army with numbers unending, swarm across the cosmos and destroy everything in its path."

"Horrified, the Prophet tried to warn the others. But they would not listen. They took the deal."

The assembled children gasped. "What happened then!" One asked breathlessly.

"Well. The Prophet knew he would have to flee Argus, or he and all his followers would be turned just as the others would be. However, he had no way to do so. But the Ata'Mal Crystal was not done helping us. Through it, he heard a voice."

"A voice?" A little girl asked. "How does that work?"

"Yes, a voice. Magic of course." Lanaura replied with a small chuckle. "But anyway, the voice explained to the Prophet that it was a being called a Naaru, and it was their race who had gifted us the Ata'mal crystal ages past. Not only was it a powerful artefact, but it would act as a beacon that would guide the Naaru to them. And they would help them flee."

"Relieved beyond measure, the Prophet set about gathering his followers which, all told, only numbered in the hundreds. With the now corrupted Kil'jaeden and Archimonde on their tails, they barely escaped aboard the Naaru rescue ship, named the _Genedar." _

"They got away!?" A rather slow little boy in the back asked.

"Hah! Of course they did, otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?" Lan laughed lightly.

Ignoring the kid's embarrassed blush Lanaura continued on. "Unfortunately, we would not be left be. Kil'jaeden took the Prophet's flight as a personal betrayal. He swore that he would never let us be, that one day he would find and destroy us."

"Meanwhile, the few remaining un-corrupted Eredar knew we could never return to the paradise of our home world. And so we named ourselves _Draenei_, The Exiled Ones."

"And so it was that our people started our long journey across the stars, searching for a safe place, ever pursued by terrible forces trying desperately to destroy us. It has been the greatest of struggles, trying to find a place to call home. But, just a few years ago on a planet named Azeroth, we may just have found it."

Lanaura let the silence hang for a few moments for dramatic effect. "And I'm afraid that's where my story ends for the night kiddies!"

"Nooooooo!" They all predictably shouted. "One more, one more!"

"No, no, I'm afraid even us space goats need sleep. And if _I _need it, you guys sure do." Lanaura laughed.

As one, they all turned their best puppy dog eyes to the Keeper.

"I don't think so. Off to bed now." She dismissed with a small smile.

"Awwwww." The children groaned. Looking as pitiful as they could, they said their goodnights to the Elders and the Warden.

Having not a bar of it, the two elders herded the children off.

Once the kids had departed Lan chuckled lightly to herself. "Ahh, kids. Well, you were excellent backing there Sweetie. Really gave my performance its needed gravitas, huh?"

Now, Proto-Drakes aren't quite like their full-blood cousins. Where full Drakes are blessed with intelligence matching or exceeding any other sentient race on Azeroth, Proto-Drakes aren't as such.

They're actually rather dumb.

As such, Sweetie had no idea what her mistress had just said. She could only gather that she had done a good thing. And she was happy with that. She even gave a happy little rumble.

* * *

Across the camp, many heads were thinking about Lanaura's rather grandiose tale. Most dismissed it as a work of pure fiction. After all it wasn't possible to get off the ground let alone up to the stars. It was an interesting story, but only that.

Amongst a certain group of Wardens and their companions, it didn't ring quite so hollow. It actually explained quite a lot. Her equipment, her blasé attitude to finding herself stuck here, her appearance. No, they were quite willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Lanaura had said she was from another world when she'd joined them, but none of the group had really believed her.

But… Could it be true?

Elsa's mind was spinning, so many _questions_. She turned to Morrigan, hoping to find out what the elusive woman was thinking.

Only to find that she had completely vanished, just as silently as she had arrived.

_I've got to learn how to do that…_

With a mental shrug and a last glance at the goofy Warrior playing with her dragon, Elsa decided that she was going to go find a place to take watch. If she joined the others, questions would be asked. Questions she didn't quite have the answers for yet.

Yes, watch would let her think; give her some time to sort herself out before the inevitable. And she'd had enough sleeping for now, thank-you-very-much.

And so, with a quick wave to a perimeter guard, Elsa vanished into the trees.

* * *

After a few more moments of Drake-spoiling, complete with belly rubs, coochy-coos and whos-a-good-girls, Lan dismissed her favourite mount.

"Now, I need a _drink_." She sighed to herself.

Turning to head back to her tent, both to check on Elsa and have a crack at that bottle of Goblin Blast-Burn Bourbon she was saving for a special occasion, Lanaura nearly walked straight into Leliana.

Strangely, the red-head had a skin of wine in her hand and a very odd look on her face, like a predator that had just spotted her particularly meaty prey.

"Oh uh… Hey, Strings. You all right?" Lan asked hesitantly.

"Oh yes. I am. I very much am." Leliana replied that look of hers not budging an inch.

Lan blinked and cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, okay… Anywayyyy… Enjoy the story?" She asked.

Leliana nodded. "Indeed I did. I had not taken you for a storyteller Lanaura, I must say I am surprised. I used to be a Bard, did I mention that?"

"Actually, you didn't. Strange job choice for someone who can kill a man in as many ways as you can." Lanaura commented.

"Well, that's Orlesian Bards for you. Sing your mark a lullaby, and then stab him while he sleeps. Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is, you have stories and you tell them well. I have wine." Leliana raised the hand with the wineskin. "And our Elven hosts have been gracious enough to supply the roaring fire. The night is clear and the stars are burning bright above. There isn't a more perfect time for two storytellers to swap tales." The Bard explained, with a gleam in her eyes.

"Eh, it's kinda late and I should probably go check on Snowflake…" Lanaura half-heartedly tried to escape. Swapping some more stories sounded pretty good right now…

"It's not nearly that late and you know it. Oh please? I haven't had a chance to swap tales like this since I was last in Kirkwall! And as for Elsa, I'm sure she-"

"Just left camp, actually. Gone to go stand watch if my guess is correct." The regal voice of their prickly companion cut her off.

Both storytellers turned to find Morrigan walking over to join them by the fire.

"And you let her leave?" Lan asked. "Was she alright?"

"She was fine by all accounts. Even I am not so heartless as to let a confused woman wander away from camp with Darkspawn in the woods." Morrigan chided. "Besides, t'is not like we wouldn't know if she ran into trouble."

Lan had to admit, Morrigan had a point. Falling trees and loud shattering ice were quite the indicators of a walk gone badly.

"Aight, fair enough. She's not helpless, I know that." Lan admitted.

"Well!" Leliana cut back in. "Now that that's settled, we can get back to the _stories!_" She giggled. "You simply must tell me the rest of the legend!"

Realizing that this was going to happen weather she wanted it or not, she accepted the wineskin Leliana offered her, plonked herself down on her butt and took a long swig.

"_Light_ I needed that! Anyway, where were we…? Ah. What legend?" Lan asked.

Leliana took her own seat across from her, Morrigan elected to take a seat on a nearby stool.

Lan cocked an eyebrow at the wilder witch's sudden and uncommon urge to spend time with them, but rolled with it.

"The one you just got done telling? The one about your Prophet?" Leliana tried again.

Lan blinked in bemusement. "Yea like I said, what legend?"

Morrigan scoffed. "Oh come now. You honestly expect us to believe that isn't a legend? What else could such a fanciful tale be?"

Lanaura nodded. "History." Was her simple reply.

"Wait, all that happened? The Prophet existed?" Leliana asked.

"Of course the Prophet exists! Look, I'm seven and a half feet tall, I'm blue and I have _hooves_! What about that screams 'local' to you?" Lan shot sarcastically.

Morrigan huffed. "I will admit, I did not believe you when you told us you were from a different planet. I thought you were perhaps just a particularly crazy, mutant Qunari. But your equipment and your actions scream otherwise. But even if I believed you, there's no way that story would be true."

"Oh?" Lan asked dryly. "And what makes you think that?"

"There's no way you managed to keep such a detailed record of the events. A few hundred men and women with an army at their heels would not have had time to record them. Even then, keeping the records through twenty five thousand years of nomadic history is a stretch to believe."

Lan blinked. Then blinked again. And suddenly burst out laughing.

"What!" Morrigan angrily snapped.

"Oh man I just realised, I haven't told you how old I am have I?" Lanaura managed in between gales of laughter.

"I don't see how that matters."

"Oh, oh my. Oh it does. Oh it so does!" Lan gasped.

After a few more moments her laughter tapered out and she was able to continue.

"It matters, because we don't _need_ written history. Why would we need to write the story, when the Prophet Velen is still alive to tell us?"

_That_ brought the minds of all those listening to a sudden stop.

"Wait… What? But that would mean…"

"Yup!" Lan cried, her smile just about splitting her face. "Draenei live for a long time Strings. A _long_ time. It's true, there are only a few remaining Draenei that old. Most have died over the years. But our Prophet in his wisdom leads us to this day."

Lan started laughing again. Seriously, making jaws drop around here would never get old! And that was just _her._ She could only imagine if a Paladin or a Warlock had been sent here in her place.

It would have been hilarious.

"But-but-but… How?" Leliana managed to force out past her astonishment.

"Dunno honestly. Just the way we are. It's pretty cool. Long, boring at times. Really shitty other times. Violent basically constantly. But cool." Lan shrugged.

Morrigan suddenly remembered what got them on this track in the first place. "Lanaura… How old are you?" She asked.

"Morrigan! I am shocked and appalled you would be so rude!" Lan admonished, striking a melodramatic pose.

"Do not be absurd! Answer the question!" Morrigan snapped back.

"Okay, okay." Lan soothed. "I was born exactly sixteen years before the Draenei found the Silver Millennium."

"And how long ago was that?" Leliana asked.

"Oh, some… Ten thousand years ago now? Give or take a century? Yea about that."

If one were to take a disbelief fillet, wrap it in no-way-in-hell bacon, smother it in you're-kidding sauce, cook at fucking-really degrees, then take the final product and smack the two companions in the face with it out of nowhere, you may just get the expression that adorned Leliana and Morrigan's faces.

That Lanaura fell over laughing should be taken for granted by now.

"Ten... Thousand?" Leliana murmured.

"She… She's older than Mother…" Morrigan did the same.

"Hey! I'm not old! Not by Draenei standards at least." Lanaura

She ignored the disbelieving stares the two shot her. "The Prophet is old. Some of his advisors are old. I'm only… Middle aged."

"Maker guide me… How is that possible?" Leliana murmured.

Lanaura shrugged. "No idea. It's just the way we are. I always find it weird you all have such short lives. How do you get anything done? Come to think of it only one other race we've come across so far comes anywhere near us in terms of lifespan. Night Elves. Poncy tree-huggers at worst, fantastic friends at best."

"I… I believe I shall retire." Morrigan distractedly murmured. She stood up and departed, vanishing into the night.

An awkward silence dropped between the two remaining by the fire, one Leliana seemed too shocked to lift. So Lanaura took it upon herself to do so.

"So, how about I tell you about the time when Uranus, Neptune and I woke up naked in the middle of Princess Serenity's private gardens?"

* * *

Tamlen's funeral was held the next morning. The entire clan gathered around the central bonfire, silent in their reflection. They had no body to return to the soil as they traditionally would. But they could still sing for their departed child.

And sing they did. At some unseen signal and as one the Dalish's voices filled the chilly morning air.

_Swiftly do the stars burn a path across the sky,_

_Hastening to place one last kiss upon your eye_

_Tenderly the land enfolds you in slumber, _

_Softening the rolling thunder_

_Dagger now sheathed, bow no longer tense_

_During this, your last hour, only silence_

After the last notes came to an end, the clan mournfully moved on to the other elf they would be losing that day.

Every man, woman and child gathered around Tia Mahariel. Each and every one wanting to wish their friend goodbye, get one last hug or offer some last minute advice. She cut a dashing figure, clad in Master Ilen's best leathers and with the otherworldly sword Starshatter strapped to her back.

The Warden and her companions stood a good distance apart from the elves, preparing to leave the moment Tia could get away. They had a lot of ground to cover to get to Redcliff and not a lot of time to do it.

Elsa had managed to escape the interrogation so far. Wynne had been busy with a late night emergency; a hunter had been nearly killed by a wild boar. She'd managed to save him, but had slept like a rock afterwards.

On the plus side, the clan would eat pretty well that night.

Leliana had been woken up by the wet nose of Muffins shoved into her ear, next to the remains of the fire, empty wineskin in hand. It was the other five wineskins and the half empty bottle of "Blast Burn Burbon" scattered around her and Lanaura that contributed to the rather brutal hangover she was suffering from.

The Draenei on the other hand seemed almost insultingly chipper. She seemed to have suffered no ill effects from the night of tales and booze.

Two words, Hangover Potion.

_Seriously, kiss Trixie for her genius potions. _

The rest of the team were fine, even Sten. But Lan guessed that was just because he wiped the entire events of last night from his mind in desperate self-preservation.

Alistair couldn't seem to look at her without blushing for some reason though. Eh. Who knows with that boy?

But, while they had a little time to kill, Lanaura had a theory she wanted to test out.

"Hey Snowflake!" She suddenly yelled.

Elsa, clearly in her own little world, didn't see it coming. All she caught was the swift movement out of the corner of her eye of something descending towards her.

Without conscious thought, she _reacted_.

A long stick wielded by the warrior crashed against a blade of pure ice that suddenly appeared in the mage's hand. Again, simply reacting, Elsa knocked the makeshift weapon aside and countered with nearly perfect form.

Lanaura evaded the blow with ease, a massive grin on her face.

"Now where did you learn to do that?" She teasingly asked, tossing her stick casually over a shoulder and ignoring Leliana's violent swear as it smacked against her forehead.

Elsa was just as shocked as anyone else. She looked at the blade in her hand, then up at the still smirking Draenei.

"Interesting. It seems that the phylactery imparted you with more than just spells." Wynne stuck her oar in with a frown. "That is… concerning."

Lanaura scoffed. "Concerning? Awesome is what it is. She can fight now! That's great! Now I have another person to teach!"

Elsa felt a shiver run down her spine. Something about the manic tinge to her friend's smile promised hardship.

Plus, she'd seen the Draenei 'train' with Sten and Alistair. Which always ended with the two men bruised and winded, while the woman herself looked fresh as a daisy.

That brought her mind to a rather sudden halt. Not because of the inevitable pain, but the word she'd just used.

_Friend._

Elsa had never had a friend, not one that wasn't her sister at least. The other apprentices in the tower either looked down on her, or were jealous of her for being the 'first enchanter's pet.'

The only people who came close were that nice Templar boy Cullen, before he went mad of course, and another apprentice by the name of Jowan.

Their relationship wasn't so much friends, as Jowan never leaving Elsa alone and Elsa being highly uncomfortable.

That didn't seem to deter Jowan who, for some reason, trusted her beyond doubt.

Didn't stop her from immediately telling Irving when his insane plan came out. Stupid, stupid Jowan.

But that wasn't important right then. What was important, was that she had honestly referred to someone as her friend.

After an instant of reflection, she couldn't seem to deny it. Elsa trusted the goofy warrior. More than she had anyone aside from Irving and Wynne. It was a good feeling.

But it seemed that being friends didn't stop Lan from swinging something else at her head.

She ducked the fast moving, brightly coloured object and jumped backwards out of range of a follow up.

At which point the brightly coloured object was thrown to her. Deftly plucking it out of the air with an ease she didn't know she had, Elsa blinked at the outlandish… weapon.

"Foam sword with steel for a core. Excellent for training." Lan explained. She herself had an exact copy of the false-sword in her own hands. "Now, let's see how good you are." She challenged with a smirk.

Elsa gulped.

* * *

After a short while, Keeper Marethari was able to free Tia from the crowd of elves. There were more than a few tears going around and it was all Tia could do to not break out herself.

Mahariel and Kallian had explained it to her before Tamlen's funeral. There was a very good chance that she would never see her clan, her family, again.

She was… understandably upset.

The Keeper herself was the last one to say goodbye. "I'd normally say 'stay safe' _dalen_. But I know what you're going to be doing. Be careful. Stay true to yourself and your heritage and you'll make us all proud."

Tia nodded. "Thank you Keeper." She replied, her voice thick. "And, one last thing. If I can?"

"Of course _lethalan_."

"Can you… Can you tell her I said goodbye?"

The Keeper smiled sadly and nodded. "Of course. I will tell her everything when she returns. Good luck _dalen. _May the gods watch over you."

"And to you Keeper." Tia solemnly replied.

With that she turned and walked away from the only family she had ever known.

* * *

Tia caught up with her new travel companions near the edge of the clearing. Sparing not a glance at the gasping, winded and roughed up looking _shem_ mage, nor the huge and smug looking warrior she addressed the Elf in charge.

"So. We leaving or what?"

Kallian frowned. "Indeed we are. But there are a few things we need to clear up before we do. First of all, you take your orders from me. Alistair is my second. If he tells you to do something, you do it. I don't care what you think about humans, he's your superior. Do I make myself clear?"

Tia grit her teeth and scowled but nonetheless nodded.

"I said do I make myself clear!?"

Tia bit back a snarl. "Yes." She spat.

Kallian nodded. "Good. Just do your job and you'll do fine. Can you ride?"

Not trusting herself not to insult her new companion, Tia only nodded.

"Good. Lan, you got something for her?"

Lanaura checked the IMBA™. "Uh, Yea. Here, Gilnean horse. I figure you don't mind bareback."

Tia nodded. "We don't use those restrictive pieces of crap. The Halla won't have them."

Lan shrugged. "Cool. Catch."

A small stone was quickly tossed her way and deftly plucked from the air.

Without further ado the Wardens and their companions mounted up and moved out, their second major objective finished at last.

They all fervently hoped that Redcliffe would be simpler than this.

* * *

Tia's Joining was held that evening. The small band of Darkspawn Scouts was the unpleasant provider of the main ingredient.

After they made camp, Tia was led away from the rest a small while by Kallian to a convenient clearing, where Alistair, Lanaura and Elsa were waiting.

The particulars of the ritual were explained to her, why all the secrecy and that yes, this was the cure they had spoken of.

To say she wasn't happy about this would be an understatement. Kallian was starting to think she may back out.

She was very glad when Tia took the cup after Lanaura recited the Words.

She followed the procedure. Swallow, gag, eyes turn white, collapse. But she lived.

"And just like that we have another member! Short, sharp and angry, just the way I like 'em." Alistair joked as they carried Tia's unconscious body back to camp.

He'd received a slap over the back of the head via Kallian for that. Not that it did any good, with both him and Lanaura chuckling as they were.

They were there when she woke up. Explained what the Joining did to her and what it would mean. Then they shoved a large bowl of Lanaura's fresh made stew in front of her.

Fortunately, she was so wrapped up in wolfing down the heavenly meal she forgot to be angry with them. She ended up passing out just after finishing licking the bowl clean.

The next two days continued without incident, but not without friction. Tia had remembered to be mad with them. Churlish, stubborn and needlessly argumentative, Tia did her best to make everyone around her miserable.

Something Kallian could understand. They'd taken her away from the only family she had ever had, probably forever, and forced her to work with people she hated on sight. She didn't want to be here, she got that.

Didn't mean she didn't ask Lan to work her a little harder than strictly necessary in their evening training sessions.

It was one of these sessions that the main characters of this story, or some of them at least, were to be found. In a small clearing not too far from their campsite lit by soft mage-light the warriors of team Warden practiced their craft.

Metal clanged against metal, grunts of exertion were drowned out by the sound of combat. Truly, Lanaura was in her element. She strode between the two battling pairs, simply observing for the moment. The two great sword wielders, Sten and Tia, were on one side doing their best to beat each other's heads in. Hilarious as the sheer size difference was between the two combatants, Tia wasn't letting it be an advantage.

Yes, Sten the hulking Qunari would happily win a contest of strength. He would do so with _ease_. Tia was surprisingly unwilling to let the contest become such, however. Instead she used all her innate agility to parry, redirect, dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge. She was doing just about _anything_ to keep herself from going up fully against Sten's most plentiful asset.

What? It wasn't like it was his charming personality.

Anyway, the thing was, it was working. While not anywhere near as strong as Sten, Tia was still exceptionally strong for an elf. Starshatter was whipping around like a glowing streak as the woman flowed around Sten's strikes.

Oh yes, Tia had some serious potential as a Blademaster. Not Lan's preferred spec by any stretch of the imagination, but still very good. Teaching her the bread and butter of the Blademaster spec would be of a high priority.

After she learned to settle in, of course.

On the other side of the clearing, Alistair and Elsa were running through the basics of swordplay with a sword and shield. Elsa was nervously gripping Lanaura's weapons as she ran through practice strikes and drills.

At about triple the rate of the regular recruit. One good thing to say about magical vial bollocks, Elsa wasn't so much learning as re-learning things.

The magical side of Elsa's new abilities were handily tossed off to the two experienced mages and ignored.

Alistair was turning out to be a fantastic second, Lan had to admit. Whatever this Chantry he talked about did to train Templars, whatever those were, they knew how to teach.

Templar… Lan hadn't had the opportunity to talk about it with him yet, but that was what he had trained to be. From what Lan had gathered the Chantry was similar to the Church of Light back on Azeroth. That would of course make the Templars sort of like a discount Paladin.

In all their fights so far Lan had never so much as seen a Judgement from the man. So he clearly didn't fight with the Light as Paladins did. But what did they worship if not the Light? Was it this Maker some of the group always mentioned?

That would make sense. It wasn't as if not worshiping the Light was new. The Shaman of her race revered the elemental spirits over the Light most of the time. That was cool. But what did this Maker _do?_ Every worshiped being on Azeroth did things, even _Deathwing. _This Maker seemed pretty shit in Lanaura's opinion.

Not that she cared enough to ask. She left the religious crap for her sister. So what if they wanted to worship an impotent god? More power to them.

They were wrong, but more power to them. Eh, she'd get an explanation she could understand whenever her friends showed up.

"That's enough for now!" Lan called out over the ringing clangs.

Elsa and Alistair stopped what they were doing and turned to face her. Sten and Tia took another moment to disengage before doing the same.

"Good work tonight. We'll pick back up tomorrow. Sten, stop messing around next time. You could have had her a few times there and I know you let them pass."

"Hey! I was doing just fine!" Tia hotly rebuked.

Lanaura cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh yea, you were doing fine. But Sten saw the same opportunities I did. Didn't you?" She asked the big man.

Sten nodded. "Yes, _kadan. _You often tried manoeuvres that are currently beyond your skill. Your footwork needs improvement. Enough power behind a stroke would have you off balance, open for a following strike. But you are a woman playing at being a man. Flaws are to be expected."

The whole clearing went deadly silent. Alistair and Elsa's jaws dropped. Tia was furious, her face reddening in anger. Lanaura on the other hand…

A pale blue hand lay itself lightly on Sten's shoulder. It's owner stood behind the Qunari, a very odd smile on her face. "Sten, dear. You mind explaining that a little further, before something _bad_ happens to you?"

Sten felt a flash of cool fear down his spine, the reason for it utterly unknown to him. "I do not understand _kadan_. The woman is pretending to be a warrior."

"She's not pretending, Sten. She's actually pretty good. In a scary, elfy way." Alistair offered from the sidelines.

"That is not possible." Sten dismissed. "A woman cannot become a warrior. A woman cannot become competent with a sword. It is simple fact."

The hand on Sten's shoulder tightened. "Sten, I'm sure you know by now that with a blade I'm _better than you_. What does that make me?" Lan asked in a deadly tone.

Sten blinked, and turned his head to look at her. "What about you, _kadan?_ You are better than me, that is fact."

Lan nodded. "Uh huh. So do you see how one of those things cant be right?"

Sten just looked slightly puzzled. "No. Why do you ask? You sound as if you are saying you are a woman."

That got actual audible gasps from the three remaining party members. Tia had actually managed to forget her anger as Sten dug himself deeper into shit.

Lan's eyes narrowed. "Sten, I'm a woman."

Sten blinked and looked her over. "You are? Not possible."

Lan's eyes narrowed even further as the implications of that sank in. Eventually she brightened, and a slightly too sweet smile spread across her face. "Tia? May I borrow Starshatter for a moment?"

Too shocked to argue, the elf handed over the blade without a word.

"Thank you. Now, Sten? I'm going to start beating you now. I'm not sure when I'll stop."

Fortunately for Sten's health, a sudden excited cry from the treeline grabbed everyone's attention. A brown and green blur sped past them all and slammed into the utterly unprepared Tia, who was easily toppled over by the surprise assault.

Which turned out to be no assault at all. Another elf had her arms wrapped around Tia's chest in a vice-grip, hugging the woman for all she was worth.

Hands relaxed from weapon grips where the party had grabbed them in surprise. This newcomer seemed no threat, yet at least.

At least Tia seemed to know her. When she could finally loosen the other woman's arms enough to see who it was, hoping against hope it wasn't who she thought it was.

Unfortunately hope decided to abandon her. It was exactly who she thought it was. The one woman she had been missing for nearly a year, and the one person who's reunion she had been dreading with every inch of her being.

"Merrill?"

* * *

**Author's note!**

Hello hello everyone! Welcome back to D,W,W:OM!

I hope everyone's doing juuuust fine out there. Been a little bit since I posted last, sorry!

Just so you all know I've started Uni recently, so that will affect things. But i'm not giving Lan up! No sir!

I still couldn't manage to cut the wordcout down. 8.4k. Eh, I honestly dont think you mind _too _much.

But hey, it must be working. I've got over 9000 views! Go me! And i'm no.2 on the DA-WOW cross list! Go me! (It looks like if Dragon Age: The Warlock keeps going at the rate is has i'm not going to have it for very long. But hey, it's fantastic either way, go read it.)

Seventy six Favorites and 95 followers. Fantastic stuff! I feel so loved!

Anyway, some reviews i'd like to address.

**Highlord**: I didn't abandon this! I'm back! Can you do one quick favor for me? Make an account or something I can actually contact you back with? I see you mushing me on and I cant drop a reply and say "hey man, it's comin. Chill." Please? For me?

**Melfice-sama: **Hey man. Thanks for giving it a read regardless. If you see this, you came back, so yay!. I'll address your concerns either way, for anyone who may think similarly. First question, how do you think a Draenei should act? How does a regular Draenei act compared to anyone else? It's a pretty nebulous thing. Perhaps you believe Draenei should be more mature, aloof and wise? Perhaps, but I dont think that should always be the case. There's always black sheep in any race, people who dont act like everyone else. Lanaura is one of those. She can be as adult and mature as anyone else, she'd just rather have fun. She leaves all the rest to her sister and does what she does best. Beat shit up and enjoy herself.

As for the game mechanics, they're played for laughs. Nothing more nothing less. I've never actually gone into anything that couldn't be explained with a hand wave and "magic". I dont exactly hammer logic in this fic.

As for the language thing, that's rather nitpicky isn't it? Anyway, In-game its referred to as Draenei and that's what I based it off. And a lore reason i thought up off the top of my head, the Draenei dont consider themselves Eredar any longer. They would have wanted to cut ties as best as they could with what the Eredar are now. And besides, language changes like crazy, especially over a time period as long as 25 thousand years. I highly doubt what they spoke all those years ago on Argus is the exact same as it used to be. The core language probably, but still.

**Coincidencless: **First of all, I like your name. Second, thanks for all the reviews!  
As for your points, Mate. This isn't going to be the most serious of stories. There will be times things get crazy, surreal and over the top. All in the name of whatever passes for Comedy in this fic. Hope that dosen't keep you away.

Naaru. Yes I did misspell that. Fixed it now. As for Bloight and "stun stun Vanish" they're references. Both to youtubers Oxhorn and WoWCrendor respectively. You should watch their stuff, they're funny as hell.

And drakes have ears. Or if they didn't they do now. :P

**KrystylSky: **Thanks man! Lan and Zev are going to be hilarious. I cant wait to write it. Next chapter if things go well, hope you enjoy!

Thanks again everyone, hope to see you again next chapter!

Yours,

LuckyFractal.


	8. Ambush!

"Oh it's so good to see you _lethalan!_" The excitable elf woman gushed, finally releasing her temporary hostage of affection, who still hadn't managed to reboot yet. "Spirits it's been forever! Keeper Zathrian kept me so very busy, it was hard to even get a letter out! Oh learning from him was wonderful, he knew so very much about our lore! So much _knowledge!_ He was such a fantastic Keeper, and his First was so lovely, we made such good friends!"

She suddenly halted her happy babbling as a shadow passed over her pretty face. "Well, before… everything. With the Werewolves and the curse. Oh wait, you don't know about that yet. Silly me."

She shook her head to clear the mental cobwebs. "But that's ok! We fixed it, with the help of some mercenaries. They were very nice people. They had such beautiful armor and they were absolutely _amazing_ and one even offered to teach me some of their magic! I couldn't; unfortunately it was time for me to go. Where is the Keeper anyway?"

It was at this point that Merrill took her first look around the clearing since she so suddenly tackled one of its occupants.

She took in the looks of shock on an attractive human man in armor, an even more attractive human woman in robes, a massive man she thought must be a Qunari and…

"Oh! It's you! It must be you! Unless I'm mistaken, that's a possibility. I don't think I am though, but I might be." She rambled, pointing directly at their Draenei Warden.

Lanaura blinked in surprise. "Me? Why would anyone be looking for me?" She asked, puzzled.

"Oh I have no idea why they were looking for you." Merrill admitted. "They only said they were looking for a-"The girl dropped her voice low and husky. "Tall as shit, blue skinned idiot with horns and fancy armor who we'd know a mile away". "I mean you don't look like an idiot to me, but you're massive, have blue skin and your armor looks like theirs!"

She paused for a moment and cocked her head to the side, much like a puppy and twice as cute.

"Oh, being called massive probably isn't very nice. I'm very sorry, I didn't mean it."

Lanaura just stared at the adorable little thing who had dropped into their midst as she worked to catch up with Merrill's information dump. Eventually she chuckled and shook her head. "Cool your drakes girl! No harm done. Merrill, right?" she asked.

"That's me! Merrill, First to the Keeper of the Sabre Dalish clan. It's nice to meet you. What exactly are you? Oh wait, that's probably rude. Sorry." She asked.

Lanaura just laughed. "Don't worry. Get it all the time. I'm a Draenei." She explained.

"Oh how exciting! I've never met a Draenei before."

"Yea I'll bet…" Lan muttered to herself. "Good to meet you Merrill."

Tia finally managed to connect brain and mouth enough to return to the conversation. "Merrill? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to be back for a while yet."

Merrill jumped slightly at being addressed and turned back to her friend. "Well, about that. I can't really finish my year under Zathrian, him having died and all. So I came back early!"

Merrill took another look around the clearing. "Where is everybody by the way? Are they hiding, did I ruin a surprise?"

Tia flinched, hard. "Oh, no. They're a couple days travel south of here." She nervously explained.

"Really? Then why are you here?" She asked completely innocently.

Tia flinched again. There was the question she was hoping to avoid.

Merrill, Tamlen and herself had been the only three elves around their age group in the clan. Fortunately, they were thick as thieves. Almost inseparable, they only really spent time outside each other's presence when their duties pulled them away, the Keeper's lessons for Merrill and Hunting for herself and Tamlen.

Nearly every night passed with Tia practicing her swordplay, Merrill going over anything Marethari may have taught her that day, and Tamlen fletching arrows or sharpening his knife or whatever he found to do. Different activities, different nights, same people.

There would never be another night like that again.

That realization hit Tia like a ton of bricks. Tamlen was dead, or worse, and she was leaving, probably never to return. When they inevitably parted ways, that night or in the morning, Tia would never see either of them ever again. The grief must have shown on her face, because the next thing she knew Merrill was calling her name.

"Tia? Are you all right? What's wrong?" She asked, a worried expression on her face.

Tia opened her mouth, to say… she didn't know what. How could she tell her? How could she tell the happiest, most caring person in her life that her best friends were lost to her? How could she tell her that she'd never see them again?

She couldn't. She just couldn't. So for the first time in her life, Tia took the cowards option.

"It's nothing, Merrill, nothing. Don't worry about it. Are you traveling alone?" She changed the subject as quickly as she could.

Merrill frowned. "If you say so. Oh, and no. No, Keeper Lanaya sent some of her hunters to help me back. They're camped not too far away from here. Lucky, isn't it? I only knew you were here because I wanted to go for a walk." She explained, brightening up.

It was Tia's turn to frown now. "Merrill, don't do that again. There are Darkspawn in the woods, it's not safe." She said seriously.

Merrill jumped slightly at that. "Darkspawn? Those monsters from the Keeper's stories? But they live underground don't they? Why are they on the surface?"

"A Blight, that's what." Alistair jumped in, drawing the attention of the two Elves. "It smashed the King's armies at Ostagar and has been pushing north ever since. We're Grey Wardens, we'd know."

Merrill's eyes widened. "What? Oh how terrible! Well, not about being Wardens, that's fine. About your armies. Oh Spirits! What about the clan!"

Tia grabbed Merrill's shoulders to calm her down. "Hey, the clan is fine. The Wardens warned us about them before anything could happen; the Keeper is moving everyone north as soon as you get back."

Merrill slumped in relief. "Oh thank the Spirits."

"Hey, why don't you grab the rest of your group and come join with us for the night?" Alistair asked all of a sudden. "Grey Wardens can sense when Darkspawn are lurking nearby. It would be safer that way."

"Oh! Oh of course! Oh yes that makes perfect sense. I'll go get them now. Where are you camped?" Merrill asked.

"About fifty meters that way." The Templar said, pointing in the camp's general direction.

"Wonderful! I'll be right back, coming Tia?" She asked as she stood up.

Tia nodded and followed lamely as they vanished into the trees.

Alistair sighed heavily as they disappeared. "Great. This should be fun. All right guys, lets head back for the night."

Lanaura and Elsa shared a look before following. Lan couldn't agree more.

* * *

Alistair's prediction actually ended up being pretty accurate, but not in the way he thought it would. The two elves returned to camp plus interest, a small group of extra elves. These elves actually turned out to be fantastic company, cheerful and warm as opposed to the cool welcome the Warden's party had seen elsewhere amongst their kind.

Of course, Lanaura did feed them. That might have had something to do with their attitude.

Merrill and Tia spent most of the evening in avid conversation about Merrill's time with another clan. This actually amounted mostly to Merrill happily chatting about anything and everything while Tia sat and listened, occasionally throwing her opinion in when needed.

This also had the happy coincidence of keeping the ever abrasive Tia from killing the rather upbeat mood.

Lan hadn't pinned down their relationship yet, much to her chagrin. Were they just best friends or was there something more? Anyone with an active pair of Shipping Goggles™ (One of Goblin Engineering's more interesting and useless creations, only _more_ likely than usual to blow up in a user's face, metaphorically or very literally) could see the signs. But once again Lan wasn't so sure.

The rest of the group would be too busy entertaining the guests (Kallian), not notice anything out of the ordinary romantically at all, even if it was wearing a dress and dancing the remigold (Alistair and Elsa) or simply didn't care (anyone else.)

So she turned to the only person who could possibly help her.

"Hello you. Whatever was in that liquor you gave me the other night, I want more of it." Leliana said with a light laugh as Lanaura settled down next to her. "I don't know how you escaped its effects so easily. Some perk of your race?"

"Yea something like that-Anyway!" Lan quickly changed the subject. "So, Tia and the cute one. What do you think?"

Leliana snuck a glance at where the pair were sat and pursed her lips in thought. "Well, from what Alistair said of her rather… enthusiastic greeting I had assumed they were lovers. Only now I'm not so sure. They are supremely at ease with each other in any case; I've never seen Tia so relaxed."

That was a point, Lanaura had to admit. Tia was being open, she was leaning relaxedly against a tree with a _smile _on her face and had even _laughed._ It was such a huge change from the bitter, angry woman they all thought they knew.

"I suppose this is the Tia the Sabre clan know and love. I can see why. She is quite cute when she's not trying to stab you with her eyes." Leliana sighed. "Honestly I wish we could all just get along."

Lanaura nodded in agreement. "Yea… I kinda shot myself in the foot there."

Leliana chuckled lightly. "Oh yes, I had heard about that. Did you really need to tackle her?"

Lanaura sighed and coloured slightly in embarrassment. "No, I don't exactly know what I was thinking. But that girl has one hell of a pair of lungs. Speaking of which, did I tell you about the time I spent in the Seventh Legion a few years ago?"

The rest of the evening turned out to be the high-note of their time amongst the trees of the Brecillian Forrest. There was laughter, songs and pleasant company as the Wardens and their companions truly relaxed for the first night in ages. There would be far more battle and death in the days to come, but for that night all was well.

* * *

It was a couple hours after dawn when the Wardens broke camp, enough time to enjoy a hearty breakfast with their new Elvish friends before they departed for the Sabre camp.

Tia Mahariel on the other hand was having not nearly as much fun as everyone else. She was _very_ aware of the approaching parting of ways and more to the point…

Having to explain to Merrill why she wouldn't be going with them.

That was one bonus of being friends with Merrill. You didn't actually have to say very much in a lengthy conversation, she tended to say it all herself. So she had successfully avoided explaining why she was with the Wardens for the evening. Every time it had come up there was a subject to change to, a person to introduce and so on.

But now every single excuse, every change of subject had abandoned her, leaving her with absolutely no idea what to do next.

The Elves didn't have very much to pack and alarmingly fast for Tia they were saying their goodbyes and good lucks to the Warden's group. Merrill was in the thick of things, bubbly as always. She had gotten along quite well it seemed with Elsa, despite how horrible that idea was. You don't make friends with humans Merrill, how many times did she have to tell her?

But then of course the moment arrived. The small group of elves said their final goodbyes and turned to go. And Merrill asked the question she had been dreading with every part of her being.

"Tia, we're leaving. Are you ready to go?"

Tia froze. She just froze. Every explanation, every excuse vanished in that moment. She was left with nothing, panicking in her own head.

"Tia? Tia what's wrong?" Merrill asked, concern colouring her voice.

Eventually Tia managed to force the words over the sudden lump in her throat. "Merrill, I… I won't-I can't… I'm not coming."

Merrill paused. Her face fell. "Why not?" She asked her. When Tia didn't immediately reply she spoke again. "There's something you're not telling me isn't there."

Tia was vaguely aware of Kallian shouting that they were leaving and she could catch up, but she wasn't really listening.

She had to tell her the truth. She had to tell her that she was leaving, that she was a Grey Warden now that she may not ever return. That she may never see her best friend again. She opened her mouth…

And what actually came out was something completely different. "The Keeper asked me to… guide the Wardens to the edge of the forest." She said, mentally beating herself over the head with a club for being so weak.

But it worked. Merrill brightened right back up again as if nothing had ever happened. Silly, trusting girl! "Oh, well that's fine then. We'll head to camp now, see you soon?"

Tia swallowed hard and was actively fighting back tears. She was committed now, couldn't let anything get past. "Yea… See you soon Merrill." She nearly choked out.

Merrill smiled and turned to leave, only to be brought to a stop by a hand grabbing her wrist. She turned back with a question on the tip of her tongue only to be grabbed into a hug that nearly broke her ribs.

Surprised, Merrill returned the hug as best she could. Tia wasn't usually the hugging type, this was very odd. "Its fine Tia, I'll see you soon." She tried to soothe her very out of character friend.

It didn't work. If anything, she only squeezed harder. Tia was shaking in her arms, and was that a... wet spot? Was Tia _crying?_

"_Lethallan_…?"

Still wrong-footed by her friend's highly odd behaviour, Merrill was utterly unprepared for Tia to suddenly release her. Instead, Tia put both hands on either side of Merrill's face and caught her lips in a scalding kiss.

Merrill had absolutely no idea what was going on in that instant, all she knew was that it felt _great_. She melted into Tia's arms, returning the kiss with the enthusiasm she brought to everything she did.

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last for very long. Tia broke the kiss and pushed her to arm's length. "I shouldn't have done that… I shouldn't have done that!" She whispered to herself in shame.

Thrown completely by the sudden changes Merrill's head was spinning. "_Lethallan_…"

Tia's eyes shot up at the sound, brown meeting bright green. "I'm so sorry Merrill…" She whispered.

"_Lethallan _what's wrong?" Merrill managed to focus enough to ask, worried at the sorrow in her friend's voice.

Tia didn't respond immediately. She released her friend and took a couple of steps back, taking her in one last time. "I'm so sorry _ma falon_. _Dareth Shiral,_ Merrill. I'll miss you." She managed to choke out, voice breaking.

Unable to prolong this moment anymore, Tia abruptly turned and fled.

"_Lethallan, _what's going on?!" Merrill demanded, suddenly very worried. Tia continued to rush away, heedless of her call. "Tia!"

But her call was for naught, and her clan mate vanished into the trees.

Merrill stood there for a long while; shocked and confused, ignoring the questioning looks of the elves she was traveling with.

"_Dareth Shiral _Tia…"

* * *

A week passed with little to note, the group having left the forest some days ago. Tia had caught up with the group not far from where they left her and had hardly said a word since. She instead trained harder than ever before, every waking moment she had to be doing something, anything to occupy herself.

The group all knew it had to do with that friend of hers, but were all wise enough to not bring it up. Well, nearly all. Alistair asked something in complete innocence and she actually _snarled_ at him.

He was wise enough to steer very clear of that topic ever since. No one ever said he was a stupid man.

Well, no one besides Morrigan, but that was another story entirely.

Aside from the odd bandit attack it was actually rather boring.

That doesn't of course mean they didn't spot the ambush coming a mile away.

* * *

The group were riding through a hilly section of road on the way to their eventual destination of Redcliffe at an easy pace. No point riding hard out everywhere they had figured, they'd just exhaust themselves even if their horses/bike could take it.

They were passing through a valley between two particularly large hills when they were accosted by a human woman in drab farmers clothing who rushed out from behind a bend. "Help! Help!" She screamed, running full tilt towards them.

The group pulled to a stop and dismissed their horses/bike, just as the woman reached them.

"Oh... Oh thank the maker you came!" She panted, looking both exhausted and relieved in equal measure. "You have to help us, they attacked our wagon!"

"Woah, slow down. What's going on?" Kallian asked the distressed woman.

"Bandits! They attacked out wagon and I think they're still around somewhere! Please you have to help us!" She cried in desperation.

From the back of the group, Morrigan scoffed. "Oh yes, let's just waste time helping every helpless peon we meet."

Kallian ignored her. "Where?"

The woman nodded frantically. "This way! I'll show you!"

Without further ado the woman rushed off and out of sight, leaving the slightly confused Warden party in the dust.

Kallian sighed and brushed dirt from her jerkin and pulled an unstrung short bow form her saddlebags. "So. Trap?" She asked while stringing it.

"Trap."

"So much trap."

Silent, slightly nervous nod.

"Agreed."

"It's like they're not even trying to hide it."

"Honestly, assassins these days…"

"Of course, it is clear as day."

"Useless humans…"

Well. That was settled quite easily wasn't it?

"OK. We're all in agreement." Kallian surmised. "The question is what do we do about it?"

The group all shared a glance. It was of course Lanaura who spoke first. "Well, isn't it obvious? Spring the trap." She ventured with a smirk. "These chumps will have no idea what hit them. How tough can they be?"

Morrigan sighed loudly. "Why am I not surprised that is your answer? Charge bull-headed into danger why don't we? Tis' a truly wonderful idea." She sniped sarcastically.

"Oh, and do you happen to have any better ones, oh great tactician? Cause in that case I'm all ears." Alistair shot back, unable to resist.

"I never insinuated I did. I simply felt like pointing out that charging in without a plan is a horrible idea. Not that the idea of _thinking things through_ would have ever passed through the empty vessel you call a cranium." Morrigan shot back.

"Children, please. Now is not the time for your bickering." Wynne sighed in a long-suffering tone.

"Thank you Wynne. Anyway, unless anyone has any better ideas I'm all for Lan's plan. We know it's coming, and they're standing in the way of Redcliffe. Let's take them down." Kallian ordered.

The group nodded in agreement and readied their gear, setting off at a brisk walk.

Not one of the group noticed that Elsa's hands were shaking around the shaft of her staff.

* * *

As they turned the corner and walked through a natural archway, they spotted a wagon with a broken wheel in the middle of the road, the woman from before standing next to it and waving them over.

It was right in the middle of the track, with rocky outcroppings raised up about ten or so meters above on either side leaving precious little room to manoeuvre. The road was muddy from fresh rain and hard to find proper footing.

In other words, the perfect ambush spot. Even Morrigan was impressed.

They continued forward at a brisk pace, trying their best not to let the ambushers know they had seen through their trap. When they reached about fifteen meters away from the cart, the woman's expression changed from worried relief, to a satisfied smirk.

She thrust a hand forward and a bolt of sickly green light flashed to the archway behind them, impacting with a massive crack. The already tenuous arch caved and collapsed, effectively trapping the group in the canyon.

Ok, the party had to admit they didn't see that one coming.

With a gesture from the Mage, the assassins revealed themselves, stepping up, out and into view. And there were a lot of them.

"Well. At least we know we've _really_ annoyed someone!" Alistair quipped as he drew his sword.

On each side of the small canyon a ridge lined with archers, and Wynne noted with worry that they had even posted a pair on a ridge behind them. From the cart three more slipped into view, all armed with an assortment of light weapons of an unusually high quality. These definitely weren't typical bandits.

The assassin's leader was obviously the attractive on at the front, the one with the cocky smirk on his face. He raised a hand, _winked at Kallian_, then dropped it.

As one, the archers loosed.

Immediately, Lanaura and Alistair jumped in front of the mages with shields raised, soaking as much of the rain of arrows as they could with a bastion of steel. Kallian and Leliana both dived to the sides of the canyon and took cover among the rocky outcrops. Working in tandem they knocked arrows, pulled back the strings, locked on to the two targets behind them and loosed.

Both arrows slammed home with devastating effect, sending the two would-be assassins tumbling to the ground with twin thuds. That took care of that threat, leaving the two warriors to only have to protect from arrows coming from one way.

Unfortunately, there were still a _lot _of arrows coming from said direction.

Kallian and Sten had done the smart thing and charged the group of ground combatants with twin bellows and swords raised, accurately guessing that the archers wouldn't fire on their own comrades. The assassins moved forward to meet them.

It was at that moment that the real trap was sprung.

From another ridge behind them, two more mages stepped from hiding and launched fists of earth towards the covering Warden mages.

Wynne and Morrigan responded, sending spells of their own to impact against the assassins, breaking apart the attacks apart. Both immediately followed up with spells of their own in kind, a bolt of spirit energy and a bolt of frost.

Both impacted against the assassin mages, splashing harmlessly against magical defences. But their flinching gave the two time to cast defensive spells of their own with just enough time to soak another volley from the assassins. They quickly fell into the rigours of magical combat, spelling hexing and countering, which effectively removed them from the fight at large.

Which unfortunately left the original mage by the cart free to wreak as much havoc as she wanted.

That one threw a fist of stone towards Alistair, which slammed against his shield with a dull boom. He was knocked back several paces, but stayed on his feet enough to block the still incoming arrows.

"Elsa! Mage by the cart! Deal with her!" Kallian shouted orders over the tumult, firing another arrow at the archers still doing their best to pin them down.

She didn't expect the woman to verbally respond. But she did at least expect her to _do something_. So when a precious few seconds passed during which the free mage cast a fireball that Tia only just managed to dodge she looked to see what was going on.

Elsa was not in good shape. Her staff was abandoned in the mud beside her, forgotten. Instead, both of Elsa's hands were covering her mouth, her eyes wide and horrified. She was shaking violently and quite obviously not going to be of any use to anyone like that.

Kallian swore violently. "Lanaura! Something's wrong with Elsa, do something about it!" She shouted, before firing an arrow towards the unoccupied mage, forcing the woman's head down.

Lan glanced backwards and for the first time caught sight of the stricken mage. She cursed before turning to shout to Alistair. "Cover me!"

The Templar in training jumped to it, putting himself between them and the arrows. Fortunately with the two archer's devastatingly accurate counter-shots the assassins were being much more cautious lest they take an arrow in the eye. That lessened the rate of fire just enough.

Lan crouched down to Elsa's level, covering the woman with her shield while at the same time grabbing her by the lapel of her robe and yanking the woman towards her. "You can't break down now Snowflake, you've faced worse than this! What's going on?!" She yelled.

Elsa didn't even seem to notice being manhandled; she just kept on saying the mantra she had been repeating since the fight began in a broken voice. "_Calm yourself, control yourself. Calm yourself, control yourself!"_

"Oh we so don't have time for this." Lan muttered to herself. She leaned down right next to the panicking girl's ear and drew in as much air as she could.

"_WAKE UP SOLDIER!_" She bellowed as loud as she could directly into the mage's ear. Which you have to take in mind that, being a Warrior from Azeroth, was _very loud._

_That_ got her attention. Elsa flinched and turned wild blue eyes to Lan's glowing orbs. "Come on Snowflake! You've stared down daemons and Darkspawn, what's the problem!" Lanaura demanded.

Elsa looked back towards the assassins and immediately turned back around. "I can't!" She shouted. "They're human! I've never- Oh _Maker help me!_"

And just like that Lan understood. Killing monsters was easy. Killing _people_ was a very different thing. Monsters didn't have family. You didn't wander down a street filled with monsters and make small talk with vendors selling human entrails.

Actually bringing yourself to take another living being's life was a horrifying thing. But like a lot of things in the mage's life, she wasn't being given a choice.

Dropping her sword, Lan grabbed Elsa's chin and forced the woman's gaze up to meet her own. "Elsa, listen to me! I know this sucks but you _have_ to do this. These people are trying to kill us and unless you can pin down that mage they'll probably succeed! We _need_ you right now!" She shouted, trying her hardest to hammer the point home.

Both were interrupted when another Stonefist slammed into Alistair's shield, knocking him off balance once again. This time he wasn't so lucky, and two arrows slammed home in his right shoulder, and another in his thigh.

He went down hard with a shout of pain. Instantly Lanaura was up and over, shield at the ready. "Come on! We need you here!" She shouted back to their frozen mage.

Another Stonefist came their way, only this time Lan was ready for it. She ducked down at the last moment as the spell came towards her, catching it with her enchanted shield and knocking it upwards and away.

Directly into the ridge where the two assassin mages were standing. The distraction of the fist slamming into the stone wasn't enough to give Wynne and Morrigan the win, but they had the fight in their advantage for the first time.

Meanwhile, Elsa was staring in horror at Alistair's wounds. He was alive, and swearing, but very hurt.

A thought forced itself through the clutter of her mind. _They need you. Help them!_

Elsa latched onto that thought, grabbing onto that resolve with all she had. She reached out a hand, tapped the power surging just beneath her skin, and cast.

The very first thing she did was cover their wounded ally in a dome of rock hard ice, keeping him safe from the myriad arrows still flying with abandon around the battlefield.

She grabbed her staff, taking heart in the reassuring weight before climbing to her feet and locking on to the unoccupied mage.

Said mage was having a lot of fun as she threw as much destruction as she could around the battlefield. She threw another fireball at the covering archers, laughing in glee.

A laughter which was cut off as twin arrows of ice buried themselves in her stomach.

She went down hard, and did not rise again.

Just as she went down, something else entirely took everyone's attention.

A deep, thrumming horn call sounded loudly all around them, echoing in the ravine. Its dark note sent shivers down the assassin's spines, and for the Wardens brought a fortitude that they couldn't explain.

The battle paused for a heartbeat as the horn sounded again, louder this time. Combat seemed to cease, the fighters stilled.

And Lanaura started laughing.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" She shouted with glee, her voice carrying across the entire battlefield. "Assassin asshats all! I am pleased to announce for your dying pleasure, _The Winter Guard!_"

Reinforcements had arrived, in spectacular fashion.

Two dragons and a Griffon swept down from the rocky outcrops above and dived directly for the fight. From dragon back, a small figure in robes launched a boulder of flame directly at the two mages on the ridgeline.

Utterly unprepared, the two mages were blasted clear off the ridge and tumbled to the ground in flames, screaming all the while.

If the fall didn't kill them, the two ruthless bolts of magic from Wynne and Morrigan most certainly did.

The two remaining in flight made beelines towards either side of the ravine, slowing at the last second.

The archers were absolutely shocked when the dragon and griffon just vanished a few feet above them, and as such were utterly unprepared when their two passengers were launched directly into their midst.

A rallying cheer rose from the Warden party at the abrupt turn of the battle. Lanaura, no longer needed to protect the squishies, launched herself into the melee up front with gleeful abandon. She slammed her shield into the chest of the leader fellow, who was knocked into the broken cart and didn't rise, before joining Sten and Tia in the melee.

Elsa was no longer needed, and was joined by the unoccupied group in short order. She only watched blankly as their allies and friends turned a fight into a rout, too overwhelmed to actually feel anything about it.

She couldn't quite see the fights on the sides of the ravine. The only thing she could see clearly was on one side blasts of dark and unholy feeling magic, while on the other were flashes of pure golden light, along with a deep bellowing.

The fight in the middle was basically over when Lanaura joined it. The two remaining assassins were dealt with in comically short order.

It was all too much for her. Too much pain, too much death. Magic was meant to serve man, not rule over him. That was what she had been told her entire life. Magic was meant to serve. She was dangerous, she would hurt people.

And now, that's exactly what she had done. She had hurt _people._ She had _killed._ She could still see the expression on that woman's face as her spell hit home, the fear and the pain. It was all just too much.

She hardly noticed the last remaining dragon swoop overhead and vanish, dropping its small rider to the ground.

She did notice however when a tiny fist thumped relatively lightly into her thigh. Flinching, she turned down with surprise to meet a pair of _huge_ purple eyes under a hooded robe.

"Impressive, isn't it?" The clearly female person asked in a high-pitched voice.

Too overwhelmed to even be surprised at this, she only nodded lamely and turned back to find that the fights on the ridges were over.

"Well, c'mon then. I'll introduce you all." The short woman at her side instructed.

Elsa followed her without thought, simply doing as she was told.

Kallian, Leliana, Wynne and Morrigan were more surprised and confused than going-into-shock and lamely followed their unlikely helping hand.

"Wohoo!" Lan crowed as the remaining Warden group joined them, a massive smile on her face. "That was one hell of a fight!"

"You really need to stop springing traps like that Lan. It'll get you killed." The tiny woman sighed.

"Hey, it worked didn't it boss?" Lan dismissed. "Good to see you guys." She followed up with.

"Took us long enough to find you." The woman muttered. "But now that we _have…_" She continued in a louder tone.

In a move that surprised everyone, the woman _teleported_ behind Lan in the blink of an eye, jumped and walloped Lan over the back of the head with her staff.

"Just where the bit have you been!" She shouted at the reeling Warrior.

"Aah! I was stuck here!" Lan hotly replied, rubbing the back of her head.

Which was promptly walloped again.

"Honestly? Stuck?! _You have a Hearthstone you fool!"_ The woman shouted again, walloping Lan's armored knee for good measure.

"Stop it! Ok, I'll admit! I didn't think of it! But I had a good reason!"

"You _didn't think of it?_ Light have mercy on me…" She groaned, pinching her nose in exasperation.

"So, what'd Lan do this time?" A creepy echoing voice rasped.

In the time it took for Lan to be verbally torn a new one, the two remaining riders had joined them.

One was a human woman, stood about five foot seven, had thick blonde hair in a ponytail, and heavily armoured in dark, aggressive looking plate. Grasped in her hands were two rapiers, which were glowing slightly for some reason. Her skin was drawn and _very_ pale. She looked like death warmed over really.

The other was much shorter, at only just five feet. He made up for in width what he lacked in height. As was typical for a Dwarf, he was thick as an oak and just as stubborn. _His_ plate was in tones of dark red, gold and black, his face hidden by a strange full helm. He removed it as he reached the group, revealing a thick brown beard, intricate facial tattoos and a thick bushy beard.

"Light's Mercy, Lan. What'd ya do now?" He sighed with a heavy brogue.

"Nothing! I was helping these guys and couldn't pop back right away! It's not like you guys needed me for anything anyway." She shot back.

Both laughed and clapped a hand each to the besieged Draenei's back.

The hooded mage blinked, and turned to regard the rest of the assembled Warden party. "Oh, oh my how rude of me."

She pushed back her hood, revealing dark blue hair in a tight braid that trailed down her back. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to make introductions. Greetings and Salutation, my name is Ambassador Flopery Brightsprocket of the Alliance, and commander of the Frozen Heart. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." She introduced with a short bow.

"Oh wow, going with both titles huh Flopsy? Showing off a bit aren't you?" Lan sniped with a snort.

She fell on her rear with a grunt as Flopery's staff found her knee again. The woman herself continued as if nothing had happened.

"Before you ask, yes my name is Flopery. My mother was on a lot of painkillers. Please call me Nami. You've already met Lanaura the Astral Walker, my second in command. I'm sorry for that by the way."

"Hey!"

"And my other two companions are Gnags Wildhammer, and Trixie of the Ashen Verdict, both members of the Heart. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Silence. Pure, crickets-out-of-nowhere silence.

"Oh Maker's tits. There are _four_ of them." Wynne breathed, utterly horrified.

"I resent that! They're nothing like me!" Lan cried from the back.

"We're doomed." Kallian sighed, slapping a palm to her face.

And just to sum everything up, Elsa fainted.

Wynne was there in an instant, catching the poor thing before she could hit the ground.

Nami blinked and nodded in thought. "I don't think any more would be coming after that. This attack was an all-in. You must have thrown a wrench in someone's gears _big time_. We should make camp for the night, talk more when you've had a chance to rest."

Kallian nodded. "Agreed. Everyone! Rifle through the bodies, see if you can find anything about who sent them, and start setting up camp. Good work today people, take hear in the fact we've pissed someone off enough for this to happen."

That got wry grins from a few, and the party broke up to do as instructed, joined by their sudden allies.

Only to be interrupted when they heard a strange thumping sound, and a muffled voice yelling at them.

"Hello! Anyone?! Help!" the very familiar voice

"Oh Maker, Alistair!" Leliana cried. "He's still in the thing!"

Kallian groaned, and slapped a palm to her face, mirrored by the gnome beside her.

This was going to be a _looong_ day.

* * *

Hello Hello everyone I'm baaack!

Shorter chapter today! ALL THE THINGS HAPPENED!

I've been wanting to get this scene out for _so long_ and now i've done it. I'm so excited!

So. Down to brass tacks. Merrill.

I actually didn't have any plans with her. Just rather vague possibilities as to what i'd do when i got to the crossroads so to speak.  
Unfortunately, when I did get there I _agonized_ over the choice for and _hour. _Eventually I went with it. And i guess i should just outright state it, because people might want to know.

As of this story Merrill and Tia will _not_ be a pairing. As much as I love her Merrill will _not_ be appearing during the rest of this fic.

If I ever do actually manage to finish the events of DA:O and continue into DA2 i'll go the squeal route. I have no idea what i'd do then, but that's then. That's a _long_ time away yet.

I had always had plans for adding more WoW characters into the story, and here they are.  
For reference, Gnags is wearing that awesome Palli tier 2 kit, (because why not.)  
Trixie is wearing DK Tier 10, the purple version.

Zevran begins next chapter, look forward to it!

Yours in fiction,

Lucky Fractal


	9. Elsa's lament

Pulling Alistair free turned out to be a far more difficult endeavor than they first thought. It wasn't often they were reminded just how _strong_ Elsa's magic could be.

Wynne had been the first to try her luck with the icy dome. She and Leliana had gone to his aid when the rest of the party split off to do their stuff.

After five minutes and the strongest fire spell she could muster, the dome hadn't melted an inch. Granted, elemental combat wasn't her forte, but she was a Senior Enchanter dammit.

Just as it was looking as if Alistair would have to wait until Elsa woke up, Kallian and Nami came to see what the holdup was.

"Many times during her training I was struck by just how powerful that girl was. I was never so _frustrated_ by it before now." Wynne grumbled to Leliana as the two leaders approached.

"What's going on?" Kallian asked.

"Oh, Warden! I'm afraid I can't seem to get this dome open. And with young Elsa out of commission, I don't think it'll be moving for a while." She sighed.

"Oh well that's great. Don't worry about me, fine fellows! Continue on your quest of epic valour! I'll just stay nice and safe in the ice bubble. Or I would, if I wasn't _bleeding to death_." The assembled managed to make out through the dome.

"He'll be fine." Kalli dismissed, thinking through their options. "Think one of the warriors can smash it open?" She asked after a moment.

"Oh most likely." Nami responded before anyone else could. "Lanaura or Gnags most definitely. But I'd like to have a try if that's all right?"

At Kallian's wave the gnome knelt to inspect the dome that was nearly as tall as she was. "Hmm… fascinating." She murmured.

"Hmm? What is?" Wynne couldn't help but stick her nose in.

"That girl's magic. It's not quite like anything I've seen before. It's almost like…" Nami trailed off, clearly deep in thought.

After a moment she shrugged. "Find out later." She slammed a palm on the ice. "Whoever's inside this thing, stay away from the top for a moment if you value your skin!" She shouted.

Not giving Alistair a chance to respond Nami took action. She raised an index finger and to the surprise of all who was watching a small, intensely hot beam of flame burst from the point.

Next she turned the flame to the dome, where it bit into the ice like it wasn't even there, something that Wynne's best efforts couldn't achieve. She then simply drew her hand in a circle.

_Clunk._

Alistair swore as a large section of the icy dome suddenly fell on his head as Nami finished cutting it.

"Done." Nami said, stepping back.

Wynne was stunned. "By the Maker how'd you do that?"She gasped.

Nami cocked an eyebrow. "That? It's simple really. It's a large amount of fire magic compressed into a small area, cuts through just about anything given time. Think of it like a blowtorch, but in my hand." She explained with a shrug.

"I see, I must admit I've never thought of using magic like that." Wynne replied. "Just one thing, what's a blowtorch?"

"Yea, they did something cool now can anyone _help me_?" Alistair groused from where he was trying to extract himself from Elsa's protective dome.

Between the three of them they managed to drag the heavily armoured Alistair from the dome and helped him over to where Elsa was, where Wynne immediately set about fixing him up.

Their job done Kallian and Nami wandered off to start stripping bodies, of which there were a lot. At least the haul should be good.

* * *

After about ten minutes the group were roused by a shout from the middle. "We got a live one here!" Tia called, dragging a particular body from the pile.

Without having to be told the rest of the party sans Wynne, Alistair and Elsa gathered around the unconscious body of an elf. A particularly attractive elf man if Tia had anything to say about it. Blond hair, pretty features and facial tattoos.

He wasn't so pretty when Lanaura dumped a bucket of water over him.

The elf gasped, spluttering his way into consciousness as the rest of the group turned to stare questioningly at the Draenei.

"Why do you have a bucket full of water Lan?" Gnags asked.

Lan shrugged. "I dunno. It was in the bag." As if that explained everything.

The fact that the Azerothian contingent of the group simply nodded and accepted this as if it _did_ confused the hell out of the rest but they didn't have time to think about it.

Sitting up and shaking himself free of as much excess water as he could with a groan, the elf finally looked up and caught the gaze of the heavily armed, _still alive_ and highly annoyed Warden party. Who he'd just tried very hard to kill.

"Oh. _Oh._ Well. I rather thought I'd wake up dead. Or not wake up at all as the case may be. But I see you haven't killed me yet." He said, his voice a sultry tenor with a sexy accent to match.

"Quiet! You'll answer when spoken to." Tia interjected.

Not intimidated in the slightest, the elf quite blatantly looked the woman over with a smirk. "Oh, aren't you just an aggressive little minx… Lovely too."

He chuckled lightly at Tia's angry growl.

"But if its questions you're planning on asking let me save you the time. My name is Zevran. Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here today to slay any surviving Grey Wardens. A task I have failed most spectacularly at it seems.

"You could say that, yea." Lan cut in dryly.

Zevran turned his attention to where Lanaura was standing. As he caught sight of the Draenei he cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well now, I must say I thought you were a Qunari when we were trying to kill you. I was sorely mistaken. I've never seen your like before, how _sad_. After all, Qunari don't get nearly so beautiful."

"Charmer." Lan deadpanned.

"No, no. I am serious. You have a truly _exotic_ beauty, it suits you." He pushed.

Lan crossed her arms and cocked an condescending eyebrow. "I would break you, little man." She deadpanned again.

Zevran chuckled, deep in his chest. "Oh most likely. But such sweet agony it would be, no?"

There was a pause, a few heartbeats where Lan and Zevran just stared at each other, until Lan couldn't help but bust a grin. "You're about half my size. What could you do?"

Zevran gasped, looking shocked. "Maker, you poor woman. Don't you know? It's not all about size, you've obviously never had anyone show you that. I would gladly volunteer my services, if I might be so bold."

It was probably a good thing that neither Alistair nor Elsa were in earshot. They'd have no idea how to handle the blatant innuendo, without either blushing so bright you could use them as a lighthouse or fainting again.

Even the rest of the group was starting to feel it. Leliana had a smirk on her face and Kallian was _blushing_.

Lan meanwhile simply stared at him for a couple seconds, before bursting into laughter. "Oh yes, he's good. I like him. He's fine. Can we keep him?" She laughed.

That brought everyone back into focus. Before they could respond Zevran spoke again.

"Actually, funny you should mention that. Now that you have captured me, not the most helpful thing for a budding assassin career, the Crows will have… no further need of my services."

"Who are the Crows?" Kallian asked.

"Oh, I can tell you that." Leliana pipes up. "The Crows are an order of assassins out of Antiva. Very powerful and renowned for getting the job done… so to speak. Someone went to great expense to hire this man and his comrades."

Zevran laughed. "Oh yes, a _lot_ of gold changed hands. My most expensive job yet, and my only failure. I'm surprised you haven't heard more about the Crows out here, back where I'm from their rather infamous."

"Not for being great assassins I see…" Kallian snarked.

"Oh, is that how you Fereldans do things? Mock your prisoners? Such cruelty…"

"You came all the way from Antiva? Why?"

"Not exactly. Myself and my colleagues were in the neighbourhood so to speak. The Crows get around you see."

"Who hired you to kill us?"

There was the most important question of the day.

"Oh let's see. Oh right. A rather taciturn man in the capital, Loghain I think his name was? Yes that's it."

It was of course this moment that Alistair managed to make it over to see what all the fuss was about. "That Genlock rutting…"

Ignoring his outburst Kallian continued. "Does that mean you're loyal to him?"

Zevran shrugged. "I have no idea what his issues are with you. The usual I'd suspect, you threaten his power, yes? Beyond that, no. I am not loyal to that man. I was hired to perform a service, nothing more."

"And now that you've failed that service?" Kallian asked.

Zevran chuckled nervously. "That's actually between the Crows and Loghain. And the Crows and myself."

"Where were you going to meet him next?" Tia asked.

"I wasn't. Upon completion I was to return home and the Crows would inform Loghain of the success. If I had failed I would be dead, or should be, as far as the Crows are concerned. No need to tell him anything.

"If you'd failed?"

"What can I say, I'm an eternal optimist! Although at this point I'd say my chances or completing the job are rather slim!"

Zevran burst out laughing for a couple of seconds, trailing off. "No I don't suppose you'd find that funny would you…"

"How much was the job?" Lan asked.

"Oh I have no idea, I wasn't paid. The Crows however were paid quite handsomely I believe. Which would make me about as poor as a chantry mouse, come to think of it." He trailed off.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase. What happens now?" Kallian asked.

"Actually, that's a rather interesting point. You could kill me, that's one thing. Now that I've failed them the Crows are going to… wash their hands. Fatally. Which isn't exactly on my plans." Zevran said with a shrug. "Even if I were to somehow complete the job they might just kill me out of principal for failing the first time. Which leaves me only one option. Come with you."

Kallian had seen this coming. So had most of the rest. Alistair apparently did not.

"What! You, the guy who just tried to kill us, want to join us? Are you serious?" He spluttered.

"Oh very much so. You see, the Crows are kind of a lifelong deal. The only way to get out is to sign up with someone who they can't touch. And after surviving that ambush? I think you are it. And if you were to further on decide I was no longer required you would be free to send me on my way, no questions asked. Well maybe some, but I don't think questions about your sex life count."

Alistair turned a disbelieving look towards Kallian only to be utterly surprised at the contemplative look on _her_ face. "You're not actually going to let him are you?"

"Well, we don't have an assassin… Done. Welcome to the team."

"GAH!"

"Interesting. Recruiting people who ambush us? This seems to have become a trend." Morrigan snarked from the back of the group, shooting a very pointed look at the towering Draenei woman.

"It was one time!" Lan shot defensively.

"In any case, I'd recommend taking much better care of your food and drink from now on." Morrigan continued, ignoring Lanaura completely.

"Solid advice regardless of the circumstance, don't you think?" Zevran commented, rising to his feet.

"Who's the one who does all the cooking here?!"

Ignoring Lanaura again Zevran turned and bowed to Kallian. "I hereby pledge my personal loyalty to you. Untill such time as you no longer need me, I am yours."

"Good. Once again, welcome to the team Zevran. It's good to have you."

"Oh please, the pleasure is all mine."

* * *

Elsa snapped awake with a gasp and sat bolt upright, panting heavily. For a moment, she didn't recognize where she was, but eventually realized that she must have been put back in Lanaura's tent-home. And she was back in Lan's nightgown again she realized with a groan. But how did she get in here?

The last thing she remembered was feeling incredibly dizzy in the middle of a pile of bodies after she'd just…

Killed someone.

It was like a switch had been thrown in her head. The memories of the fight slammed into her mind, clamoring into place all at once. She could remember in excruciating detail the moment she'd simply… raised a hand and ended that woman's life.

Elsa couldn't handle it. She curled in on herself, crumpling back to the bed she found herself on and breaking into wracking sobs. She had _killed_, she was a _murderer_. How would anyone be able to look at her now? How could the rest of the Wardens stand to be around her? She had been told all her life that she was a monster, that she was a _danger _and those Templars had been right.

What would Anna think of her now?

That thought was the straw that broke the camel's back. She dug her fingernails into her arms, her broken, body-shaking sobs redoubled.

For the first time in years, Elsa lost her iron control on her emotions as she truly broke down. With the loss of control on her emotions came the loss of control on her _powers_.

Immediately the temperature in the room dropped by orders of magnitude. The entire room flash-froze as her powers started wreaking havoc, loosed from their chains at last. A heavy wind picked up within the confines of the room, tossing furniture and decorations haphazardly around. Thick snowflakes came with it swirling and spiralling as the miniature but no less powerful blizzard raged around Elsa's curled up and shaking form.

The door shook as something slammed against it, Lan's concerned shout drowned by the rage of the wind. By now the door had iced over, freezing itself shut. But that wasn't going to stop a concerned Lanaura for very long.

The door shot off its hinges as the warrior kicked it open with a powerful hoof. She, Kallian, Nami and Wynne all burst into the room.

Or at least they tried. The moment the door opened an arctic blast of wind picked the door back up and sent it flying back in their faces.

Lan took the hit head on and was sent flying backwards through the couches and crashing through the coffee table, Kallian and Nami were sent tumbling after her. Wynne fortunately managed to get to the side of the door and out of the way of the wind.

That wasn't to say the cold didn't still affect them. They'd come running when the temperature suddenly dropped and they were all feeling the sub-zero conditions sapping them already.

"Hold on! I'll try to block the doorway!" Wynne shouted as loud as she could, still only just being heard over the howling wind.

She centred herself, drawing all the magical energy she could and thrust a hand at the doorway.

A shimmering barrier of magical energy burst into existence, blocking the doorway completely. The wind died instantly.

Unfortunately, it was not without effort. Wynne looked to be concentrating _very_ hard, beads of sweat already forming on her brow.

"Maker's breath this is bad. She's lost control completely." She announced.

"Who has?" Kallian asked as she and Nami picked themselves up. Behind them amongst the ruins of a wooden coffee table and covered by the door Lan groaned. "Did someone get the plate on that chopper?"

"Elsa. I haven't seen her this bad in years. I thought she had this under control…" Wynne said.

"That young mage girl is doing this? What absolutely incredible power. You were right Lan." Nami mused.

The door was thrown haphazardly aside to crash against a wall and Lanaura launched herself to her feet. "That's not something you hear every day! Now what's this about Snowflake?" Lan asked.

"That young woman is one of the most naturally gifted elemental mages on record. That, I might add, is before we take her… special abilities into account."

"Special abilities? What like her magic warrior stuff?" Lan asked.

"No, far before that. How can I explain it…?"

"Explain it to me and I'll translate into moron." Nami deadpanned.

"Hey!"

"What? It's true."

Wynne chuckled despite the strain. "Well In that case, Elsa has an innate connection with the element of Ice that is completely unprecedented. She is a true cryokenetic prodigy in every sense, but her powers are tied intrinsically to her emotions and focus. If she loses control things get… catastrophic. She snap-froze the entirety of Lake Calenhad the last time this happened. That was ten years ago and she is a lot more powerful now than she was then. I can't imagine what's going on outside right now…"

Nami frowned, then shook her head. "That won't be a problem. These tents are in a separate pocket dimension from our own. The effects of her magic will stay locked in here, thank the Light."

Wynne sighed in relief. "That's incredible news. But Elsa remains a problem."

"What did she just say?" Lan asked, a look of baffled incomprehension on her face.

"What did I tell you?" Nami muttered in a sarcastic aside to Wynne. She sighed and turned back to Lanaura.

"Girl's crazy powerful and shit freezes when she loses control" Nami deadpanned.

"Ah. Well why didn't you say so the first time?"

Everyone shot Lan a _Look_ before turning back to the task at hand.

"How'd you get her to stop last time?" Kallian asked, already starting to shiver.

"I'm afraid the Templars had to step in." Wynne said seriously.

Kallian winced. Nami looked over at Lanaura and cocked questioning eyebrow. Lan caught the look and shrugged.

"And unfortunately, Alistair has been neglecting his Templar training as of late. He does not have the abilities yet."

"Great. So what should we do?"

"I don't know." Wynne admitted, already beginning to shiver. "Perhaps we should simply leave for the time being until she relaxes?"

"Oh hell no!" Lan cut in. "This is my house! I keep all my stuff here! My _kitchen_ is here! And I'm not leaving Snowflake in there like this!"

Kallian nodded. Or she could have just shivered particularly hard. "Yea. Maker aren't you cold?" She asked, looking at the two decidedly unaffected Azerothians.

Nami shook her head. "Fire magic has its uses. I'm fine."

"This gear is _Northrend_ gear, it's designed for it." Lan asked as their eyes moved to her. "I fought the _Lich King_ in this. This cold aint nothing compared to that."

Wynne shivered again. "Well good, because we aren't going to be able to stay very long lest we freeze to death. What shall we do?"

The room fell silent as the group thought it over. Eventually Nami snapped her fingers. "Got it. If we can get to her, can we calm her down? Or knock her out or something?"

Wynne looked contemplative, or as contemplative as she could while shivering. "Yes, that might work. However I'm afraid that getting to her would be the problem. The winds are… incredibly powerful. I don't think you could get near her."

Nami looked triumphant. "_We_ might not. But we know someone who can. Lanaura! Get Trixie, now."

Lan nodded and rushed out of the tent, returning a few moments later with a composed Trixie in her wake. The moment the woman stepped into the tent she glanced around in alarm.

"Where is that coming from?" She asked.

"Elsa. She's in there." Nami summed up, jerking a thumb at the bedroom.

"Incredible… I've never felt anything like this before. Was she born with these powers, or cursed with them?" Trixie asked.

"Born I believe." Wynne answered.

"Emotion based I presume? Or triggered at least?"

"In part, but we don't really have time for explanations right now. Can you do anything to neutralize her powers or not?" Wynne asked tersely, with a shiver for emphasis.

Trixie frowned. "I'm not sure. Honestly I don't think I can do much to stop her, but I should be able to… split the storm around myself and maybe one more person. Enough to reach her at least. That is the plan I presume?" She asked.

Lan nodded. "I was thinking maybe get her to calm down, if not knocking her out might work, but we do need to get to her yea."

"I see. Another option, I could silence her magic, which might work."

"Hell no!" Lan shouted. "No Strangling her!"

"I doubt it would work anyway. I've already tried a Counterspell, it had no effect whatsoever and I'm _not_ trying to Spellsteal _that._" Nami waved a hand in the bedroom's general direction. "We're going to have to do this the hard way."

Trixie nodded.

"Then that's what we're going to do. Drop the barrier on my call and then seal it behind us. LT, you should come with me."

Lanaura moved behind her, grabbing on to the much shorter woman's back. "Good to go Trix."

Trixie nodded, grasping the hilts of her rapiers as the remaining group took cover. "Now!" She shouted.

Wynne dropped the barrier and instantly the wind burst through, rushing at them like the hammer of Thor. At the last possible second Trixie drew her blades, both glowing with runic power, crossing them in front of herself.

The winds slammed up against the magical barrier Trixie had built and split, flowing to either side harmlessly.

"You did that to show off, don't try to deny it!" Lan shouted over the winds.

"What? I can't hear you Lieutenant!" Trixie yelled back, turning her head to smirk at the Draenei. "We'd better move!"

Lan only grumbled good naturedly for a moment.

The two pushed forward into the howling winds. Despite the defences Trixie was holding it was still a hard slog. It took them nearly five minutes to walk the few meters between the living room and the small bed in Lanaura's bedroom.

Inside the bedroom was a disaster zone. The wind had yanked everything that wasn't nailed down and tossed it around the room haphazardly, reducing most of the furniture to scraps. Those scraps were still caught in the wind, making a hard slog even harder as random debris pelted them every step they took.

When they got to within five feet of Elsa the winds suddenly dropped away completely, nearly making them tumble forward at the sudden lack of pressure.

Trixie was shoved rudely aside with in indignant grunt as Lan barged past her to where Elsa lay, still curled up and shivering in her bed, the only piece of furniture _not_ currently busted to all hell and back.

"Snowflake, Snowflake what's wrong, what's got you like this?" Lan shouted over the howling wind, grabbing the woman's shoulders.

Elsa turned red-rimmed eyes her way, widening in shock. "_Get away from me!_" She screamed, lashing out at the other woman. "I'll hurt you too!"

Lan was taken aback by that, what the hell was going on?

"I'll be fine, but you're going to hurt yourself if you don't calm down!" Lan shouted, ignoring the other woman's completely ineffectual shoving. It'd be a sunny day in Darkshire before anything Elsa could physically muster up would hurt the warrior.

"No! I hurt Anna, I killed that woman! I can't stop hurting people! I'm a blight in the eyes of the Maker, I'm a monster!"

Lanaura was left floundering. Of the two sisters, Telona was the more accomplished orator. She was the one who could give speeches, turn people to her side and heal their hurts with words alone. She was the one who could give good advice, council and support.

Lanaura had no such skill. Lanaura was the much more physical of the two, preferring actions to words which left her in rather a difficult situation when confronted by a desperate and distraught mage in need.

Telona could have explained everything in ways that Elsa would understand. Telona could have made her see that her actions had been necessary, had been _vital_.

Lanaura couldn't do that. So she did the first thing that came to her mind.

She dropped to her knees by the bed and wrapped the mage in a tight embrace, one arm around her waist and another burying itself in the mage's hair.

Elsa gasped in shock, trying desperately to push Lanaura off her to no avail.

"It's okay snowflake, you can't hurt me." Lanaura said softly, only just being heard over the wind. "I'm here."

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The girl's tears redoubled and she wrapped her arms around the warrior, face pressed against the warrior's breastplate.

They stayed like that for some time, wrapped in that embrace, Lanaura muttering reassuring words to her as she wept and Trixie awkwardly looking on from the foot of the bed.

Eventually, the temperature began to rise and the winds began to calm until they came to a complete stop.

Elsa, exhausted, had passed out. Lan lay her gently down again, before turning to take in her room.

Or more to the point, the remains of her room.

It had become a warzone. Her furniture was scattered in broken chunks all around the space, pieces of clothing having spilled out when the dresser they were in was smashed against the wall.

Speaking of the walls, there were cracks and gouges where wood and glass had impacted against them, leaving a crisscross pattern of scars to Elsa's meltdown.

The floor was also starting to become a lake as the ice and snow Elsa conjured up started melting, seeping into a massive puddle in the middle of the room.

"Well this is going to be expensive…" Lan muttered.

"You don't have insurance, do you?" Trixie asked.

"No. No I do not." Lan groaned, dropping her head in her hands.

"If it helps, I doubt it would have covered _this_ anyway." Trixie helpfully pointed out.

"_Thanks._"

From outside, the waiting group had apparently decided that all was clear. The opaque barrier vanished and the three waiting group members trooped into the room, casting shocked looks at the sheer destruction. Wynne immediately moved over to the bed, placing a soothing hand to the younger mage's forehead.

"Well. This is an odd situation" Nami stated, idly shifted through the debris with a foot. She paused as she noticed something buried under the remains of the headboard. She bent down, pulling out a picture from the wreckage.

"I think you might want this Lan." She said, holding the picture out.

Lan took it with a murmured thanks. "So what now?" She asked, looking over all assembled.

"I will stay with her until she wakes." Wynne announced. "And please, could no one outside this room hear about this little… incident? Elsa would be much happier knowing that her breakdown wasn't public knowledge."

"Sure. But before any of that, _what the hell just happened._" Lan asked what the whole room was thinking.

Wynne sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "As I said, Elsa lost control. Her abilities are… unique. Unprecedented. And despite all of the knowledge the Circle has at its disposal we are no closer to finding out _what exactly they are_ then we were when she came to us."

"Innate connection to elemental forces… That sounds almost like a _shaman_. But I've never heard of a human shaman before, could it even be possible?" Nami mused.

"I didn't feel the usual hallmarks of Shamanistic magic in that storm." Trixie added, her arms clasped behind her back in military rest. "Could things just be different here? We are on another world after all."

"I don't think so. Just being on another planet wouldn't have changed how things work by much." Nami answered after a brief pause. "The base forms of all magic stay the same across the Great Dark Beyond, or at least they do if Outlands is any decent indicator. The one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that this is beyond me. Honestly, the Kirin Tor might be her best bet of finding out. Besides, I'm quite sure that this is someone Archmage Proudmoore will want to meet. Something we'll have to organize when our task is done here."

"Ma'am, I thought the plan was to grab the LT and port home, what's changed?" Trixie frowned.

"Well, we were actually talking about that before all the excitement. Turns out things here are quite interesting and Lan already promised she'd help out. And in absence of anything pressing to do back on Azeroth, I've decided our small team won't be missed. So we're staying for a while." Nami explained.

Trixie's eyes widened slightly. "But Ma'am, you're the leader of the Heart, surely your presence is required at headquarters."

"Nonsense!" Nami dismissed with a wave. "Melissa has everything under control. And even if there _were_ something that actually required the Heart's attention, we can just let the Runeglave Brotherhood deal with it."

"While it's true that our Guild Leader can handle the Guard on her own, don't you think leaving our job to the Horde is a little irresponsible ma'am?" Trixie asked, thinly veiled distaste evident in her tone.

"Well you gotta admit they're nearly as good as we are. We'd have been fracked if they hadn't picked up on the Ruby Sanctum and they handily took care of the Bastion of Twilight for us back in the day. Not to mention Ogrimmar would have gone a lot differently if they hadn't been around." Lanaura cut in.

"But they-!"

"Enough." Nami commanded, her voice carrying all the weight of her authority. "We all know your opinion on the Horde Trixie, but that's not important right now. What's important is that I am in command here and I said this is what we are going to do. Understood?"

It made for a fairly comical sight to Wynne and Kallian, who were watching the exchange with confusion. The tiny woman commanding the respect of the room. Most of the details of the conversation were going well over their heads. Orgrimmar? Bastion of Twilight? And what was this Horde they were talking about?

They watched as Trixie scowled but eventually she nodded though her displeasure was clear for all to see. "Yes ma'am." She said, before saluting the smaller woman stiffly and striding out of the room.

Nami watched her go, before sighing heavily and shaking her head.

"Question: how did you guys find me?" Lan asked, changing topics so fast it gave Kallian metaphorical whiplash.

"Oh that's easy." Nami answered quickly, taking the advantage to move on to lighter topics. "Your sister keyed me in to her tracking spell. Then it was just a simple matter of setting up a trans-global teleportation array and calculating the best-you know what never mind." Nami cut herself off, noticing Lanaura's golden glowing orbs already glazing over. "We teleported here." She summarized instead.

Lanaura blinked away her confusion, before catching the first part of Nami's explanation. "Wait, she has a tracking spell on me?" She asked, befuddled.

"Oh yes. Quite a powerful one as well and very well cast." Nami said with a sagely nod.

Lan's brows furrowed. "Why does she have a tracking spell on me?"

"Actually, she told me to answer that question with one of her own, 'how many times did you wake up on a different planet after a night with the Outers?"

Lan's jaw hit the floor at the sudden question. "B-b-b-but that was _ten thousand years ago_ and only happened like…" She trailed off, visibly making a mental tally as the rest of the room watched on in absolute befuddlement.

All of a sudden, Lan's shoulders comically dropped and the hardened warrior sighed heavily. "Alright, she has me there. In my defence, Saturn was a horrible influence."

There was a moment of silence as the rest of the people in the room digested that statement, before eventually giving it up as a bad job.

"In any case, we're here now. Gnags should be happy, endless unholy creatures to purge. Right up his alley." Nami continued airily. "By the way, why the sword and board?"

Lan blinked in surprise, glancing at the hilt of her sabre. "I dunno, the group here needed one, the only other tanky guy is Alistair. I'd much rather be using my axes to be honest." She replied with a shrug.

"Well, with Trixie here that problem's solved isn't it?"

Lan paused at that, thinking the titbit over. After a moment a smile started slowly spreading across her face, one absolutely devoid of her normal good humour. Instead it promised pure, unadulterated chaos.

"Oh yea. _Good._"

Kallian saw it all, and couldn't help feeling like things were going to get even weirder around here. But if Trixie, Nami and Gnags were as deadly as Lanaura had turned out to be, Loghain and the Darkspawn didn't stand a chance.

"Well, we should probably tell the others." Kallian announced. "Shall we?"

Nami nodded, gesturing for Kallian to lead on, and with that they both abandoned the room. "Coming Lan?" Nami asked, pausing at the doorway, having noticed she hadn't moved.

"Nah, I'm going to start on fixing this mess, and then I might make something for when Elsa wakes up." She sighed, glancing at the devastation that used to be her bedroom.

Nami shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just a reminder, I'll need to chat with you soon. A lot has happened back on Azeroth while you've been away."

And with that vague assertion Nami left the room, leaving Lanaura with one conscious magi and one not so much.

Lanaura waited until she saw the tent-flaps swing shut behind her gnomish superior, before she rounded on a very unsuspecting Wynne, an unusual seriousness on her face.

"Wynne, how long have you known Elsa for?" She asked evenly.

Wynne blinked, surprised at the sudden line of questioning. "Ever since she came to the Ferelden Circle. Why?"

"Right, then maybe you can answer this question. Who is Anna, exactly?"

"Anna? Hmm…" Wynne trailed off, contemplatively. Eventually it clicked. "Oh! I remember now. Anna was the name of Elsa's younger sister."

Lanaura nodded. "Did anything bad happen to her by any chance?"

Wynne thought that over for a moment, before she paled rather dramatically. "Yes… Yes it did."

"Right. Well then…"

Lanaura walked over and sat herself down on the bed near Wynne, her larger frame suddenly seeming to tower over the human mage.

"I think you and I need to have a _chat._"

* * *

**Author's note:**

Hehehe... Hai guys?

Please dont be mad. Look, I know it was late but... here's a chapter for you! Fresh off the presses.

Oh holy mama-bloody-jamma this chapter was an absolute ass to write. _So much diologue!_ It fought me every step of the way, and i'm quite sure I mucked it up spectacularly.

Let me reiterate that, I _so_ don't like this chapter.

Frankly, the reason that this chapter didn't come out sooner (along with a load of hamgstringing personal issues) is because I didn't want to screw Elsa's breakdown up. And I still think I didn't give it what it deserved. Please dont be to harsh on me, I did try my best.

It's a rather pivotal moment to be honest, a lot of fallout can be expected and... yea. Anyway.

Its a shorter chapter than usual on top of that but frankly, I just wanted to get a chapter out, so I can focus on moving the story along. I know a lot of people have been waiting for the Azerothians to find out about some of the more... unsavory parts of Thaedas which are most assuredly coming very soon.

So for anyone still holding out on this trainwreck of a romp-fic, thanks.

Speaking of thanks, _oh my god._ One hundred and forty follows?! Over fifty reviews?! _Fifteen thousand views?! Over a hundred favorites!_

Absolutely amazing. I'm blown away by all of your support. Thank you all _so much_.

Lastly, I hope that there aren't many mistakes people can see. I did proof it myself but it's a one girl show here on DWW:OM. I am the beta-less! So, sorry for that in advance.

I hope to get a chapter out for you all soon!

Much love,

Lucky Fractal.


	10. One more for Gold Road

The tent was silent for a moment, Lanaura eyeing the much smaller mage in a way she found quite disconcerting.

Eventually, Wynne sighed heavily. "I suppose you want to know the story. Don't you?"

Lanaura simply nodded.

"Very well. I suppose you deserve to know." Wynne sighed again. "And I'm sorry to say even I don't know the full tale. She has refused to tell anyone the details. But what I do know is that for a start, Elsa isn't from Ferelden."

Lan cocked an eyebrow. "That's where we are now, right?" she asked.

Wynne nodded patiently. "Yes. Elsa is the daughter of a rather wealthy noble family from Kirkwall, a city state north of Ferelden, in the Free Marches." She explained, noticing the warrior's blank look at the name.

"Around twelve years ago her family were travelling through Ferelden, when a bandit gang attacked her family's caravan near the shore of Lake Calenhad. Exactly what happened next, we aren't sure but we do know that Elsa's magic manifested. The bandits retreated, but her younger sister Anna…"

Wynne shook her head. "Anna came away with a shard of ice buried in her chest, no more than half an inch from her heart. The poor girl was only around six years old at that point. Fortunately, a small group of Templars happened upon the remains of their caravan and that group of Templars was escorting a very talented apprentice of mine back to the Circle. He managed to stabilise her and kept her alive until they made it back to Kinloch Hold, where myself and one of the enchanters finished her healing."

Wynne's eyes took on a forlorn cast. "It was one of the most difficult healings of my life, in many ways."

She shook herself, visibly pulling herself back together. "But, she survived with only a streak of white and a scar to mark it, and was returned to Kirkwall very soon afterwards. Elsa has been with us ever since."

Lanaura hummed. "And her parents?"

Wynne wilted. She'd obviously been trying not to mention that. "Lord and Lady Amell… did not survive."

"Yea. I thought as much." Lanaura muttered. "So she… blames herself? Is that it?"

"I can only guess, but that does seem to be the way of things." Wynne said sadly.

"Think she's going to be ok after this?"

"I honestly don't know. We'll have to wait for her to wake up to find out." Wynne said, smiling softly down at the young mage. "That being said, I think she'll be all right given time. She's a strong girl."

"Hm. Yea…"

Wynne turned back to the warrior. "Anyway. There's no need for you to sit around with an old woman. Run along and find something to do. I'll come and get you and Kallian when she wakes."

Lanaura frowned uncertainly. "I dunno…" she said hesitantly, clearly reluctant to leave the softly snoring mage.

"It'll be fine. There's no point worrying yourself. I have an idea, maybe you can make something for everyone, they must all be starving by now with the day we've all had." Wynne suggested.

Lan brightened immediately, a grin spreading across her face. "Oh yea! I'll get right on it! And I'll make something special for Snowflake too!"

And with that, she rushed out of the room.

Wynne watched her go with a bemused smile. Honestly, the speed with which that girl could change gears…

With nothing else to do, she settled down to wait for Elsa to wake up, forlornly wishing for her knitting supplies.

Though perhaps a chair might be nice first.

* * *

Kallian and Nami slipped out of Lanaura's tent, both just about done with crazy for the day. Kallian was actually quite surprised to see that night had fallen over the party's campsite, a few minutes further along from where Zevran and his companions had ambushed them. Had they been in there that long?

A sudden sigh and movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention back to Nami. "Well that was… interesting." The gnome hazarded.

"You can say that again." Kallian deadpanned.

"Fascinating possibilities though." Nami mused. "I've never seen anything like it. If she's using magic in a way that we've never come across before, that's something the Kirin Tor need to know."

"The Kirin Tor? You mentioned that before, what is it exactly?" Kallian asked, more out of base curiosity than anything else.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting this isn't Azeroth." Nami said with a chuckle. "Well, to give the abridged history, the Kirin Tor is an age old organisation based around the pursuit of magical knowledge, founded when the city of Dalaran was built. They worked to find and catalogue every single spell, artefact and arcane tome in service of the human alliance."

They started moving, wandering closer to camp as they talked.

"I'm told that Dalaran was a true beauty of a city. Towering marble architecture, great works of art and culture, and vast stores of knowledge free to all who sought to learn. But then Arthas came, at the head of the Scourge. The city fell and was abandoned. A few months after that a group of Kirin Tor returned, cleansed the ruins and built a great magical dome around the city while they rebuilt it. When their task was done they managed to actually lift the city into the sky and moved it to Northrend where it still is today."

"Wait, they made a _flying city_?" Kallian gasped.

Nami chuckled at the look on Kallian's face. "Oh yes they did. In fact, the Winter Guard was based out of Dalaran for a couple years while we took the fight to the Lich King. A truly magical place if you'll pardon the pun."

A flying city? Could it even be possible?

Oh who was she kidding. She was beginning to believe _nothing_ was impossible for these people.

It was actually quite a terrifying thought. Kallian was suddenly fervently glad they were on _her_ side.

"And they were allowed to do this?" Kallian asked.

Nami paused for a moment, frowning. "What do you mean 'allowed'? Why wouldn't they be?"

Kallian opened her mouth to reply when a new voice cut her off.

"Warden! I need to speak with you. Urgently."

Kallian jumped slightly in surprise, whirling around to face the wilder witch who got a lot closer to her without being noticed than Kallian found comfortable. "Morrigan? What's the problem?" She asked.

"In private." Morrigan added, looking pointedly towards Kallian's gnome companion.

Nami simply shrugged in response. "Eh, do what you want. I'll see you later."

Without further ado she wandered away towards the main camp, staff thumping in rhythm as she walked.

"So, what can I do for you Morrigan?" Kallian asked, more than a little curious.

"Not here. I don't want us to be overheard." Morrigan quietly stated. She turned and started walking quickly towards an unused corner of the camp, a confused and slightly concerned Kallian trailing in her wake.

Something was wrong here. Morrigan's body language was off, her walk far removed from the normal smooth, confidant gait she associated with the mage.

Resigned to having something bad dropped on her lap once again, she followed.

When Morrigan was certain they were alone she turned back to Kallian, her eyes cautiously watching camp where the figures of most of the rest of the group could be seen.

"Morrigan, what's the problem? You're making me nervous." Kallian asked, crossing her arms.

Morrigan didn't reply for a moment, clearly putting her own thoughts into order. That moment stretched on to another, and then another.

"I am in the uncomfortable position of having to ask for your help." She stated just as Kallian was opening her mouth.

Oh really now? The ever independent apostate having to ask for help? What could possibly have prompted this?

"Oh? What's the problem exactly?"

"T'is my mother, in fact." Morrigan said.

Kallian cocked an eyebrow. "Your mother? Flemeth right?"

Morrigan nodded. "The very same."

Ugh. Morrigan was being vague again. Grass grew, the sun shone and Morrigan knew more than she was letting on.

Kallian sighed heavily. "And your point is?"

"Do you remember that grimoire you gave me not too long ago?" She asked abruptly.

Kallian did in fact. She'd found the black-bound book rummaging for anything valuable in First Enchanter Irving's office.

What can you do? You can take the girl out of the Alienage but you can't take the Alienage out of the girl.

"So? What's that got to do with anything?"

Morrigan huffed in annoyance, as if it were obvious. "Well as I said at the time it was written by my mother's own hand. It was her personal spell book. Well I've finally managed to decode it and… and I found, in great detail, the secret to her immortality."

Ice shot town Kallian's spine at the words. The implications were not good ones.

"And what is that exactly?" Kallian asked, dreading the answer.

"Well, she can move her soul from body to body. When she grows old and frail, she has a daughter, and then simply… takes them over when the time is right." Morrigan explained. A shiver of disgust passed through the witch.

Kallian was horrified. But that would mean… "And you're next." She guessed.

"T'is my assumption, yes." Morrigan replied. "Which is why I need you to kill her. And further, why I must not be there when you do."

She suddenly swore, violently. "I should have seen this coming or something like it at least."

Kallian's mind was reeling, too much information at once for the warden to process. "Holy Maker… Well, I mean, no one thinks that badly of their family. You couldn't have seen the signs."

Morrigan scoffed. "Please. Flemeth was no saint of a mother. She is an abomination and a sorceress. I should have suspected _something_. The grimoire detailed all the training and preparations… I've done them all. I am next!"

Superior, cool, collected, powerful, untouchable. These were the words she'd happily apply to the wilder witch.

In that moment Morrigan was terrified. It was in every line in her face, in every angle of her posture. It did not suit her. She was trying her hardest to hide just how much this news had affected her, but Kallian could still see the signs. She was surprised to find just how _wrong_ she found that. It was as if the tides changed direction, or owls started flying at noon. It just wasn't right.

And despite her prickly, holier-than-thou attitude most of the time, Morrigan had been a fixture in her life since Ostagar. She'd been a rock of unmoving confidence and self-assured grace that in all honesty had kept her afloat.

So despite the fact that they would have to throw themselves against an undoubtedly powerful abomination with hundreds of years' experience to her name, there was no way Kallian would refuse.

"It's alright. You can count on me. On all of us." She resolved.

Morrigan blinked, surprised at the sudden decision. "I… well. You have my thanks. I will sleep far better knowing that creature is gone from my life."

"Anytime. We'll deal with her after Redcliffe." Kallian assured.

Suddenly, a problem crystalized in her head. "Wait, your mother lives in the _Korcari Wilds _right? Right where the Darkspawn are? How are we going to get there? If the horde's already swept past, getting to her will be impossible. Not to mention that the Darkspawn might just have done that job for us."

Morrigan frowned, she hadn't thought of that either. She shook her head. "No… No Mother will have placed enough protections on that hut to keep the darkspawn away. It won't be that easy."

Morrigan frowned harder. "I suppose we shall have to ask for help from Lanaura's people, their flying mounts should be able to get you there and back." She said, with much reluctance in her tone.

"There's that." Kallian agreed with a sharp nod. "I'm sure they'd have no problem with helping out. Lan certainly wouldn't."

Morrigan nodded in agreement, but still for some reason the reluctance remained.

"I don't like asking them for help… but I can see t'is the only option I have."

"What's the problem? You can't hate them already, they just turned up." Kallian said with a small smile.

A smile that slipped slowly away as Morrigan failed to respond. "Ok, what? Lan's one of us and her friends seem fine. What's the problem?"

"I wish to rid myself of one abomination, and I'd rather not ask for help from another to do so." Morrigan stated.

Kallian's eyebrows shot into her hairline. _"What?_ What are you talking about!?" She gasped.

Morrigan rounded on her with a yellow-eyed glare. "Quiet! Do you wish the whole camp to hear us?" She admonished.

Kallian wilted slightly under the witch's fierce eyes, shutting her mouth with a snap. "Sorry." She muttered. "But that's a lot to take. An abomination? What makes you think so?"

Morrigan turned grim eyes away towards the rest of camp, gaze settling eventually on one still form, settled on the ridgeline above them atop a light blue proto-drake, brooding.

Kallian followed her gaze, frowning in surprise when she found where it lead.

"Trixie? What's wrong with her?"

Morrigan didn't answer for a moment. "I cannot say for sure. I can feel it. I _know_ that there something… wrong with her, something that makes Blood Magic look like a child's plaything. I cannot name it, t'is something I can only describe it as… dark."

Kallian didn't know what to think about that. She would admit to having been… unsettled in the woman's presence, for a reason she couldn't name. And there was that exceptionally creepy echoing voice of hers…

But on the other hand… "Lanaura trusts her." She noted.

Morrigan scoffed. "That woman is a buffoon."

"True, but Lan knows her a lot better than we do. Shouldn't we trust her on this?" Kallian asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Morrigan stiffened. "I think you'll find my trust in short supply." She stated curtly.

Kallian shrugged. That wasn't surprising.

"But I don't have a choice in the matter. I shall say this, however. Keep an eye on that one, I shall be doing the same." Morrigan said grimly.

Well, it was the best they were going to get.

"I'll keep that in mind. Anything else you need?"

"No, that should be all. And Kallian?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

Kallian smiled at that. She knew how hard that would have been to say.

"You're welcome Morrigan. But it's late, and I should probably hit the sack. Good night." She said, receiving a cool nod in return.

Kallian turned and began to walk away, but only got a few meters before Morrigan called to her again.

She turned her head, shooting a questioning look at the witch. "What?"

"Some advice, heed it or do not. When they find out just what kind of organisation the Wardens are, Lanaura's compatriots are going to be quite angry. And I think none more so than Lanaura herself."

Kallian blinked in surprise, turning back around fully to face the witch. "What do you mean?"

Morrigan sighed lightly, shaking her head in disapproval. "I've no doubt the buffoon jumped into the Joining without thinking about it. And without fully understanding the contract she was signing when she took the cup."

Kallian paled. Morrigan _knew!_

"How do you know all that Morrigan? No one outside the Wardens should know any of that." She said direly.

"I know many things." She answered cryptically. "But what I know is not the issue. T'is what Lanaura knows. Or more pertinently, what she does not. Does she know of the drawbacks of the Joining? Does she know of the thirty year time limit _you_ put on her life."

Kallian made to answer instantly, to rebuke that ridiculous assertion. Of _course_ she knew. There's no way they wouldn't…

Every muscle in her body tightened as her mind came to a shuddering halt, and her heart seemed to stop beating in her chest.

It was if someone had plunged her into the winter sea, naked and far from shore.

_They had not._

They had not told Lanaura. Or Elsa, or Tia. It just… hadn't come up.

_How_ had it not come up!

Morrigan saw the horror on her face as the realisation of just how badly they'd fucked up sunk in.

"I did not think so."

Without another word, she turned and slunk away into the darkness, leaving Tia alone with her thoughts.

It was going to be a long and sleepless night for the Warden. And by the Maker she wasn't going to be dealing with it alone.

She turned back and strode off with a purpose, zeroing in on where the _other_ complicit Warden lay curled up by the fire, obviously asleep.

They had a lot of damage control to do.

* * *

The fade was slow to release its hold on Elsa when she finally began to rouse. The silky softness surrounding her did nothing to motivate the process either. She was warm and comfortable in a way she hadn't been for a very long time.

Besides, she wanted to get back to the lovely dream she had been having. She'd been trapped in a tiny cell, a primordial and overpowering darkness pressing around her from all sides. But just as she thought herself lost a miracle had occurred.

What could only have been an angel straight from the Maker had suddenly been at her side. She'd leaned down, wrapping strong arms around Elsa's shoulders, whispering soft, reassuring words into her ears as the darkness around them recoiled at her very presence.

Elsa couldn't remember a time she'd felt so warm, so secure, so _safe._ She had felt as if she could let down every barrier, every wall. To just let everything go.

And for some reason, the woman had been vaguely familiar…

But as all dreams go, she had lost the details somewhere in the fade. But maybe if she got back to sleep…

Eventually she gave it up as bad job and roused herself fully, opening eyes still bleary from her rest.

The first thing she saw was Wynne, curled up in a soft looking chair next to her bed, sound asleep and wrapped in a tartan blanket. Not to mention snoring softly, much to Elsa's amusement.

But the smile died as she took in the rest of the room's details. She sat up with a jerk, shocked eyes surveying the bedroom, or what was left of it more to the point.

It was a mess, if you were partial to understatement. Smashed furniture, scattered belongings and clothing littered the room, tossed with reckless abandon by an unseen hand.

It didn't take long for her to remember what had happened.

She'd lost control. Her powers had gone ballistic and the scattered remains of Lanaura's room lay as mute testament to her weakness.

Details were returning thick and fast now. How she'd been so lost in her own horror, confusion and self-loathing that she hadn't realised the destruction she had been causing.

And then Lanaura was just _there._ Wrapping those strong arms around her. She'd been so scared she'd nearly frozen Lan's armor but the woman hadn't cared. She just kept holding her until she'd managed to calm the raging storm that was her mind.

Wait, that'd been basically what had happened in her dream! But that would mean the woman…

"Oh, Snowflake! You're awake!"

_Lanaura…_

Her eyes shot towards the doorway at the quiet exclamation, kept low so as not to wake the sleeping woman in the room.

Stood in the doorway, framed in the light of the room behind, was Lanaura. The woman had removed her armor, and was instead wearing a plush looking robe, a mug of something in her hands. She'd quite obviously just come from a bath, beads of moisture still glistened on her skin. Her hair was still damp, falling below her shoulders in soft waves far removed from her usual high ponytail.

Elsa couldn't help but notice how Lanaura's eyes, those stunning glowing orbs, were looking at her. Softly, warmly, with a matching smile on her lips.

She'd never seen anyone more beautiful in her entire life.

Sure she'd noticed how attractive the taller woman was many times. It was undeniable. But never before had it crystallised so clearly.

"How are you feeling?"

The question caught her off guard. So off guard that she fumbled for an answer for a few seconds, only managing to make odd sounds such as "I… yah… ima…"

So despite the horrifying embarrassment she must be making of herself, Lanaura only laughed. "Yea I get it. Don't worry. Cmon, let's get you something to eat, you must be starving."

The loud grumble from her stomach answered for her. It was loud enough that it even startled Wynne slightly in her sleep. Luckily for her the mage didn't stir too much, she only shifted slightly and went back to sleep.

That didn't stop the embarrassment from spreading a hot blush across her face.

Fortunately Lanaura didn't comment, only gesturing for the younger mage to follow her with another bright smile, disappearing into the other room.

When she managed to disentangle herself from the suddenly constricting blankets enough to follow, she found the lounge empty, but movement could be heard through the open door to the Kitchen.

"Take a seat, I'll just whip something up for you." Lan called.

Elsa did so, taking a place at Lan's dining table to await her no doubt mouthwatering meal.

When Lan returned, it was with a massive bowl of something that smelled heavenly. The mage damn near snatched the thing out of Lanaura's hands. Maybe she was hungrier than she'd thought…

Fortunately Lanaura didn't take offence and simply dropped herself into a nearby chair.

The bowl now in Elsa's possessive hands was filled with what looked to be a simple stew, but knowing Lanaura's cooking would surely prove to be anything but. The moment Elsa took that first bite she moaned in pleasure. Flavours burst across her tongue like fireworks. Spices, textures and perfectly cooked meat combined in a rapturous melody that Elsa refused to get enough of.

She wasted no time in devouring the meal her host had cooked for her like one woman pack of wolves. Lanaura couldn't help but laugh at that, and she disappeared for a second, before she reappeared with the whole pot, which she planted down in the middle of the table.

She vanished again, returning with a pair of bowls, scooping a hearty portion of the thick stew into one of them.

"You want any while it's hot boss?" Lan asked over her shoulder.

Elsa froze, spoon shoved haphazard in her mouth.

"I'm fine. I ate before, remember? Not everyone eats like a seven foot tall goat from wherever the fuck space."

The mage's head whipped around to the sofa, where the tiny figure of Lanaura's mage friend was sprawled lazily out on the sofa, absorbed in a book. She was so small compared to the couch Elsa had missed her completely when she walked in the room.

She, like Lanaura, had ditched the clothes she had on before, instead wearing a light and comfortable looking silk tunic and breeches with soft leather boots on her feet.

"Fair point. More for me and Snowflake then." Lan dismissed with a shrug, sitting next to Elsa and tucking in to her stew with happy abandon.

For the first time, the tiny mage glanced away from her book. "Oh, shit. You're awake, good. I've been meaning to speak to you. You had us all shittin ourselves for a sec there." She said, lobbing her book carelessly down the sofa and slipped down to walk over to the table.

Elsa suddenly realized how silly she must look right that second, spoon and all. She hastily swallowed her mouthful, only to cough violently when some went down the wrong way.

Cursing herself for being such a clutz she blushed heavily as Lanaura laughed loudly and slapped her on the back a few times, nearly sending the girl face-first into her stew.

After a few moments she managed to cough out something that sounded roughly like an apology, which was lazily waved away by the gnome, who now occupied the seat across from her.

"Hey Lan, you got any of that hot choc? The good shit, not the piss-weak powdered crap."

"Huh? Yea actually I could whip some up... You want some Snowflake?" Lan asked.

"I'm not sure what that is, actually." she tentatively replied.

Both Azerothians stared at her like she'd grown another head.

"Light! You've never heard of hot chocolate!?" Lan asked.

"No?"

Lan stood up suddenly, with determination. "Right. Then i'ma bout blow your mind." She said, vanishing into the kitchen.

"Good. That'll keep her busy for a while."

Elsa shot a confused look at the gnome. "Busy?" She asked.

"Gives us a chance to talk, without Lan standing around being worried and useless. But forget about her for a sec, how are you feeling?"

Elsa blinked, surprised at how suddenly this conversation had changed track. "I'm fine... I'm sorry I cant remember your name." She replied, uncertainly.

"Flopery. Call me Nami. And Bullshit."

Elsa flinched at the sudden curse . "I..." She began again.

"Just broke down and trashed Lan's bedroom." Nami sharply interrupted. "So you're clearly not fine."

Elsa was left floundering for a second, unable to answer. After a moment, the smaller mage's eyes softened and she smiled sympathetically.

"Lan told me what happened during the ambush. That was the first time you've killed, wasn't it?"

Elsa swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. Not trusting herself to speak, she only nodded.

"I thought so. The first time's always fucked up. But as horrible as it sounds, it does get easier after a while."

Elsa didn't know how to respond to that. Eventually she settled on "The... first time?"

Nami nodded.

"How often have you...?"

"Honestly? I have no fucking clue any more. Lost count after a while. Piles up when you do the work we do." She said with a shrug.

Elsa said nothing. _Could_ say nothing.

"Ah well. Look, here's the thing. Killing people? Ugly work. Always has been always will be. But what you're going up against? There are going to be people who want you dead. And the only way you're going to keep that from happening is to put them down first. End of the day it comes down to the simple you or them. At that point who they are, who they work for, what they want? Dosen't mean shit."

"You made your choice yesterday. And it probably saved your friends life. They would have killed you all but you didn't let that happen. You did the right thing."

Suddenly, Nami laughed, harsh and sharp and shook her head. "Listen to me. Going on like I know what the fuck i'm talking about. I'm not the one you should be talking to really."

Elsa, still reeling, asked the first question that came to mind. "If not you then who? Lanaura?"

Nami laughed again, this time with a bit of actual mirth. "Haha, yea, nah. She wouldn't know how to deal with that shit if the answer bit her in the ass. Her sister though, Telona, she's the Guard's Mistress Healer. She's the one you want to talk to."

Her sister? Oh right, Lan had a twin didn't she?

"Why her sister?"

"She's a brain doc, among other things. Knows how to help people with shit like this. You should talk to her, she's good. I swear she's the reason half the Guard still function."

"But isn't she... on another world?"

Nami blinked, honestly taken aback for a second. "Huh. Shit. I'd honestly forgotten. How bout that." She said before she waved the point away with a dismissive hand.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Wherever one of those two is the other is usually there or isn't far behind. She'll show up at some point. Oh, and before I forget. Whenever we manage to get you to Azeroth I want you to speak with a woman named Jaina Proudmoore. She's the Archmage of the Kirin Tor, and if anyone can find out how to help with your... icing problem it would be her."

To Nami's surprise, Elsa actually scoffed at that, before flinching in shock at the realisation of what she'd done. "I.. I don't think so. If the Circle couldn't help me after all this time, how could this woman?" She said instead.

Nami just looked at her flatly. "I think you'll find the Kirin Tor are rather good at what they do."

A pregnant silence fell between the two, pregnant with _triplets_. Eventually, Elsa opened her mouth to say something...

"I'm baaack!"

And just like that the moment was gone.

"Just think about it. All i'm asking." Nami finished under her breath as Lanaura made her way over to the table with a tray of what could only be described as _averagely_ sized cups. Which for anyone else wouldn't have caused a single batted eyebrow but as Elsa had noted over the course of their companionship, Lanaura didn't do _small_.

So to be presented with such delicate looking crockery by a woman who defaulted to massive in all respects, from height to weapon size to cooking volumes, genuinely took the mage aback.

Nami on the other hand didn't so much as blink. "Take your fucking time." She commented with a sly smile, the joke behind the words clear.

"Oh eat me." Lan dismissed, placing the tray down between the two on the table, taking one of the three for herself. "Making hot-choc like this from scratch takes actual _effort._ Not that you'd know anything about that." She shot back with a smile.

"It fucking well would have to take effort. By someone who usually has the subtlety of an Orc cooking seems far too delicate of a science." Nami countered with an exaggerated haughty tone.

"Orcs can be exceptionally stealthy i'll have you know." Lanaura replied primly. "And coming from you? The one who actually managed to give a _Death Knight_ food poisoning?" She retorted, with all the sly satisfaction of a Rogue with a knife to your throat and a smirk to match.

"_One time!_ One fucking time it happens and suddenly everyone feels like they can give me shit..." Nami grumbled. But the jab had hit it's mark judging by the radiant blush on her face and Lanaura's smug laughter.

Elsa just sat back and watched the two clearly very close friend's banter pass back and forth for a moment with a warm smile. It was fascinating to see.

There were no reservations here, between these two superficially polar opposites. One a tiny magi intellectual, the other a ground-pounding, subtle as a warhammer warrior.

But that just didn't matter to the two, Elsa noted as she took one of the mugs filled with a heavenly smelling rich brown liquid. There was a camaraderie here deeper than she'd ever seen before.

She idly wondered if she'd ever be as close with Lanaura as Nami was.

She really hoped so.

With that thought, Elsa idly took her first sip.

* * *

The two Azerothians were jarred from their argument over what got spider ichor out of clothing best (and how many spiders they'd been attacked by to find that out) by a sudden, loud and downright _salacious_ moan.

Both heads turned slowly in concert to regard the sidelined mage. Elsa had tensed in her seat, hands wrapped tight around the mug in her hands. As they watched she took a second sip, much deeper this time. Unlike before, she slumped in her seat, melting into a picture of rapturous bliss with another nearing indecent moan.

As they watched her tongue emerged from her mouth to swipe slowly at a small spot of hot-chocolate still decorating her lips.

Something that had absolutely no influence on Lanaura's wide eyed stare and suddenly much darker skin tone, no ma'am.

"What... is... this?" Elsa breathed softly, not bothering to open her eyes. "It's... indescribable..."

Unknown to both Nami and Lanaura, this was the first time in her life that Elsa had ever had chocolate. How that state of affairs came to be was rather complicated.

While chocolate did in fact exist on Thaedas, it was in _extremely _short supply. Coco beans could only be grown in the Tevinter Imperium, and was by all metrics a delicacy in the ostracised country.

Not to say that it didn't export the treat, it did. But at a _breathtakingly_ steep price. The only ones who could afford it were nobles, and even then only the richest.

Unknown to all, it was one of the main reasons the Chantry tried to ignore Tevinter as best as possible. The Divine didn't want her supply cut off.

Yes, that was the honest to Light reason. And in all honesty, does that fact surprise anyone?

So despite being from one of the (at the time) richest noble families in the Free Marches, Elsa had never been exposed to any before she was taken to the Circle.

The availability of chocolate in the Circle of Magi should be obvious. About as plentiful as common sense all told.

Added on top of that was the drink Lanaura had served. Darnasisan style hot chocolate was a unique experience. The beverage itself was thick and gooey, like chocolate lava, with a layer of rich cream topping and sprinkled with chocolate shavings to finish.

Lanaura, suddenly realizing that she had to field that question, something she was utterly unprepared for, swallowed loudly and shook her head to return it to some semblance of working order.

"I uh... Darnassian style hot-chocolate?" Lanaura explained.

Elsa didn't reply for a moment. Eventually, she drained the drink in her hand with one final adorable mewl, before opening her eyes.

Sparkling sapphire met glowing gold as Elsa stared right into Lanaura's eyes with a lazy, satisfied smile.

"Is there any more?"

* * *

Zevran suddenly tensed, shooting to his feet and looking wildly around the camp-site.

Gnags, whom he had been trying to teach Wicked Grace to, blinked in surprise. "What's go into ya lad?" The paladin asked, bemused.

He didn't answer for a few seconds, just continued to look everywhere around him. Eventually slumped, seemingly in defeat, back to his log seat.

"It's nothing I just..." Zevran began.

"Just what? Get it out lad."

"I just have a feeling that I'm missing out on something. Something... incredible."

* * *

**Author's note!**

Hi again everyone! Fractal here with another chapter!  
Oh my did I have some fun writing some of these scenes. I hope you enjoy it.  
Thanks again to Noctua Aurorae for being my idea sounding-board and general biggest fan.

So it begins! The shipping starts in earnest. How fun this is going to be.  
And as foretold, Zevran is a treat to write.

Now i think i'm going to stop making timeline promises. I have said before that this chapter will get us into Redcliffe but I was wrong. My muse had other ideas, the fickle, promiscuous thing.

I wanted to actually get to Redcliffe in this chapter but frankly, I think that it came to a natural conclusion here and so that's where i'm going to leave it for now. Hope that doesn't make anyone too angry. But one last time i'll make this promise.

Redcliffe is next chapter. Hold me to that.

Now, for other random crap.  
I was surprised to find not long ago that a large portion of my readers are based in Sweeden. As in it's my second largest demographic after the US. Wouldn't have expected that tbh. But hey, its pretty cool. Hi Sweedish readers! I really apreciate your support. That of course extends to all my readers, you're all cool.

Anywho, usual spiel. Read, review and have a good day. And i'm always open to PMs if you want to talk, about anything really. Story context, anything your confused about i'll try my best to clear up without spoiling anything.

Bai bai!

Yours,  
Fractal. 


	11. Long Night in Redcliffe

**A:N-  
**Hey guys, I'll be taking some time to explain some things people have had questions about at the end of the chapter, check out the AN there.

* * *

The remaining trip to Redcliffe took just shy of three days to finish. Three days of a whole lot of _nothing._

Not a single band of roving bandits, Darkspawn or wolves so much as sneezed in their direction letting them make great time.

What there was instead was a whole lot of awkwardness and not a lot of talking all told. Sure there was the regular banter but there was no real integration between the Warden Party and their tagalong Azerothians.

The two groups kept themselves mainly to themselves, with Lanaura dancing back and forth between the two. Thus the peace was kept.

There were some interesting notes to be found however. Alistair and Kallian were nearly silent the whole trip, something everyone noticed but no-one wanted to ask why.

Gnags was hardly ever seen by the ground-pounding party. He spent every waking moment he could in the air with his griffon, who he had apparently named Gayle. Real original job there Gnags. When Elsa had quietly asked Nami why that was, the response she received was a shrug.

"Wildhammers. It's their thing."

It was a testament to how far they'd come with dealing in Azerothian brand crazy when the fact that Nami rode a large tiger and Trixie a large bear as mounts didn't even phase the rest of the group.

Zevran on an interesting note was in the fortunate, or unfortunate, position of being in neither one of the two squads proper. Not yet a trusted member of the Wardens and _absolutely_ not a member of the Azerothians, he kept himself to himself most of the time. When he wasn't hitting on anyone and everyone of course. And getting _slaughtered_ by Lanaura in combat training, something most of the Warden party could commiserate with.

They made great time moving through the Hinterlands, a beautiful and wild territory just south of Lake Calenhad. Come nightfall of the final day they were only a few hours away. Instead of pushing through by magelight they decided to make camp where they were and move on in the morning.

Or at least that was the plan. They even got as far as starting to set up their tents before Gnags returned, swooping into the middle of the camp.

"Everyone!" He shouted for those who might have missed the loudly screeching griffon landing heavily in the middle of the camp. "I've bad news." He announced, a dire cast to his voice as the two groups gathered in the centre of camp.

"What's the problem?" Nami asked, all business.

"I scouted out the place we were going. Redcliffe yea? Well, something is very wrong there."

"Details Gnags." Nami admonished. "We've talked about this."

"Right. Sorry. I only got brief flyover, but the whole town was packing into a big church looking building. They'd set up a wall of pretty shoddy barricades around the front door. They're expecting an attack."

"But... Why would they barricade the Chantry? It doesn't make any sense." Alistair cut in, moving forward. "It's the strongest building in town and easiest to defend sure, but if they were under attack, they'd just fall back into the castle. That's the sensible thing to do. Redcliffe's one of the strongest castles in Ferelden! That's what both Arl Eamon and Bann Tegan would have done. It just doesn't make any sense!"

"I think I've an idea about that." Gnags said gravely. "I also circled the castle a couple times and i'm very concerned. There was no one on watch. At all. I should have been spotted at least, but I wasn't. No signs of life at all. And most concerning, there are even more barricades leading from the castle to the village. Something _in_ that castle has the villagers terrified."

There was a brief silence as the group digested that.

"Well. This is gonna suck." Lanaura neatly summed up, dropping her head into her hands.

"Hey think of it this way." Trixie replied, glancing towards the warrior. "At least there'll be a decent fight."

Lanaura, true to form, immediately brightened, a wide smile on her face. "Oh yea! _Nice_."

"How can you be so sure?" Leliana asked.

The _entire group_ turned to her, shooting her flat stares.

Blushing, Leliana looked at the ground with an adorable shuffle of her feet. "Silly question. Right."

"Moving on... Good thinking Gnagas." Nami said, bringing the conversation back to the point with the air of one who had done so _many _times before. (Which knowing those involved, _probably had_) "I think it's pretty obvious we need to be there. Yesterday."

"Agreed." Kallian spoke, finally joining the conversation. "Sorry everyone, we're pulling up camp. Get ready to ride, we move out in ten minutes."

Everyone broke apart, moving to break what little camp they had made for themselves. As they did, Kallian turned to Nami. "I think it's would be best if we all stuck together. I don't want us understrength if we are surprised on the road."

Nami nodded. "Agreed. Gnags, don't fly far. Close escort only, understand?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll keep as best an eye as I can." Gnags replied, before patting Gayle's feathered neck. "To the sky lass!"

The Griffion screeched in response, taking two massive strides before leaping into the air and away.

"I'd have preferred him with us on the ground to be honest." Kallian commented, grabbing at her mount's summoning stone.

Nami shrugged. "Keeping a Wildhammer grounded if you don't have to is like trying to pin down smoke. He'll keep to our speed." She explained, grabbing her own summon stone.

"Or he better if he knows what's good for him..." She muttered to herself under her breath.

Soon, a chorus of bestial cries filled the air as the two parties mounted up and departed, Mage light guiding their way in the growing darkness.

They were still a couple hours hard ride away from Redcliffe. And in the back of many minds was one question.

What were they about to ride into.

* * *

It took four long hours to reach the village. Four hours of nothing but the sound of pounding hooves and the occasional griffon cry from above. They didn't know what was to come, all they knew was it would probably be very bad.

When they finally reached Redcliffe... it was worse than they'd feared.

They all pulled to a stop at the top of the titular red cliffs of Redcliffe village. Stretched out before them was the massive Lake Calehnad in all its watery glory.

Away to their east, set upon a large rock reachable only by bridge was Redcliffe Castle. Large, imposing and strangely unsettling, lit by the full moon above.

Below them, built into the cliffs and down to the lake shore, was Redcliffe Village. The Village was quite large, being as it was the hub of merchant goods from Orzamarr to Orlais.

At that moment it was also very much on fire.

Everyone swore in whatever language they proffered, violently and with passion. It was worse than they'd thought possible.

Redcliffe was under siege by the Undead.

And worst of all, the Undead were attacking from Redcliffe castle.

"What the hell is going on!" Alistair shouted, already readying his weapons.

"I don't know." Kallian said, daggers in hand. "But I'm going to find out. Let's move everyone! We have to get down there!" She turned to rush down the slope, only to have her wrist grabbed in a surprisingly tight vice-grip by Nami.

"Hold a moment Kallian!" Nami commanded. "We need a plan of attack."

"We don't have time!" Kallian shouts back, visibly pissed off at being disagreed with.

"Yes, we _do_." Nami said. She moved to the cliff-side. "Look. From what I can see the living set up two main defensive positions."

She pointed out both, one closer to them by the town's windmill, the other in front of the Chantry at the bottom of the cliff. "My team and I will relieve the living in the town square, yours can push towards the men by the windmill. Hold them back as best you can. We'll link back up with you when we're able. Understood?"

Kallian nodded, still looking thunderous. "Done. We'll speak about this later. My team! On me, let's move!"

A chorus of acknowledgement greeted her. As one the Warden party turned and started down the slope at a run.

Meanwhile Lanaura (who had quite noticeably _not_ followed along with the rest of the wardens) shot Nami a sidelong glance.

"Since when did we _plan_ things?" She asked slyly.

"Oh shut up. _I _do the planning for all of us. Well, Telona and I. How do you think I always know where I'm going?"

"Blind luck." All three of her subordinates said simply at the exact same time.

"I hate you all. Remind me to dock your pay when we get back."

"We get paid?" All three said simultaneously.

"Just get on your damn mounts."

Not bothering to suppress their chuckles the group did so. Trixie took the chance to raise a special something to her lips.

The Horn of Winter pierced the night air, it's deep, majestic call echoing around the cliffs, joined by three massive roars and one piercing screech as three dragons and a particularly majestic griffon launched themselves from the cliffs.

Well, _two_ of the dragons did. Lan held back for a moment, a confused look on her face.

"But seriously, we get paid?" Lanaura asked herself, before realizing she'd been left behind. "Wait for me!" She yelled, diving after them.

* * *

The Undead never knew what hit them. At the Windmill battlefield the Knights of Redcliffe were starting to tire. Four days of little sleep and constant combat had worn them down far too much. But just as Ser Perth had begun to give up hope, deliverance arrived.

A flare of magical light burst into existence in the sky above, at the exact moment a chilling, fortifying horn call thundered from the clifftop. The beleaguered knights were surprised enough to finally notice the group of fresh warriors charging down the road towards them.

With simultaneous battle cries Alistair, Sten and Tia plunged headlong into the flank of the undead advance, severing the group already attacking the knights from their reinforcements by carving a messy swath with massive swings of their weapons. Starshatter in particular sliced through the scattered pieces of armour and flesh like a hot knife through butter as the diminutive warrior diced them to pieces.

The three rogues were hot on the warrior's heels and quick to pounce on the back ranks of the cut off group, twin sets of daggers flashing in the scattered torch light.

The three mages in the group took vastly different approaches. Morrigan decided she didn't have the area clearing spells necessary to make a dent in the undead. So instead she rippled, her form shifting as she dropped onto four now massive paws. Morri-bear roared a challenge, charging to the knight's assistance, laying into the undead with wide, powerful blows.

Elsa, on the other hand, _did_ have the area spells for the job. Hesitant to reveal the true breadth of her abilities to people she didn't trust and quite sure the rest of the party was able to handle themselves, she did not tap the natural wellspring of cryokenetic energy rippling beneath her skin.

Instead, she pulled on her regular fade-based magic, aiming for the back ranks of the main undead horde.

An intense blizzard sprung into life, over two dozen meters across and just as deep. Spears of ice suddenly rained down on the advancing horde, lancing cleanly through the hapless forms caught in its radius.

But still the horde pressed on, bodies piling on top of themselves as Elsa's magic tore them to shreds.

Still, there was enough either side of her spell to advance, pressing on to the three warriors holding the main force off.

Wynne meanwhile, rushed in behind Morrigan's advance, the woman-bear getting her close enough to break through the zombie lines into the group of flagging knights.

Ignoring them, she cast her arms wide and with it, a font of healing energy.

Wynne's magic rushed to the knights, bolstering both their energy and their resolve, giving them enough to rally.

Ser Perth turned to her, running an undead through while he did so. "Thank the Maker! You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

"I can guess." Wynne said with the ghost of a smile. "But we have a battle to win do we not?"

"Ha!" Ser perth laughed, the first in days. "That we do! And with you lot, we might just do that. Knights of Redcliffe! Let's show them we mean business! _For the Maker!_"

"FOR THE MAKER!" The knights bellowed in reply, crashing back into the fray.

* * *

Murdock had never been the most pious of men. Sure he believed in the Maker, but he attended Chantry sessions more out of habit than anything else. He was content to live his life and let the Maker deal with far more important things than him.

But even a man like himself could spot a Maker-sent miracle when it dropped out of the sky right in front of him.

Three massive _dragons_ of all things and a bloody _griffon_ suddenly plunged from the sky in the wake of that eerie yet welcome horn call, squashing a bunch of undead each as they landed.

Then, just as soon as they came, they just… up and disappeared, as if they'd never been there!

The villagers hardly even registered the figures left behind in the dragon's wake. How could they? They were still trying to pick their jaws up off the floor.

That changed. _Rapidly_.

* * *

The instant their boots (or hooves in one particular case) hit the ground, the Frozen Heart went to work. After all, they were _exactly_ where they wanted to be. Right in the thick of things.

Trixie cut down the shambling corpses nearest to her with contemptuous ease, only bothering to use one of her two swords. Lightning fast slices finished the creatures beneath her, still squashed into the ground by her proto-drake. She thrust a hand forward, mentally tapping the runes embedded into her weapons.

A large area of shifting, seething red energy splashed onto the ground nearby. All of the corpses within screamed in seeming agony, withering away to ash as Trixie's Death and Decay spell took hold. She immediately shifted her attention, slashing once, twice, blasts of frost magic following her strikes, frigid, sharp and dark. The corpses in the way of the magic burst apart in a grizzly shower of gore, but Trixie had already moved on, uncaring eyes only looking to the next engagement.

Gnags was a study in opposites. He laughed heartily as he burst into action, cracking skulls and rotted bones with his massive hammer. "That's right you unholy monsters!" He shouted, bringing his hammer around in a brutal arc that caught a creature in the chest, pulping it and sending the rest of the body flying backwards through a group of its fellows. "You will all fall before the fury of the _Light!_"

He bellowed the last word, simultaneously slammed his hammer down on the head of a downed Undead. The moment the face of his hammer impacted the ground lines of bright, holy Light erupted from the ground in a large area around him.

The undead did not scream, they did not feel any pain. Instead, all who crossed into Gnag's Consecrated ground simply shuddered and collapsed, the dark magic holding the creatures up burned away by the Holy Light.

With a big grin behind his helm, Gnags leapt forward and back into the fray, as keen as ever to deliver the Light's judgement on all who deserved it.

Lanaura took a simpler route. She simply roared, her Battle Cry nearly shaking the buildings around her, before charging shield-first into the closest group of undead. She bowled over the first one she hit, crushing its skull with a contemptuous stomp before lashing out with her sabre, brutally efficient swings dicing the undead apart. One tried to swing at her with a rusty sword in its hand. Lanaura blocked the shoddy attack with her shield, running the beast through its eye socket.

She wrenched her blade out with a squelch, the same motion severing the arm of another attacking undead. A mighty swing of her shield took the thing's head clean off in a shower of gore.

Without stopping for even a breath she bellowed another battle cry before Leaping forward, again towards the thickest concentration of undead, the Warrior's deep battle lust already taking over.

The undead as a whole turned towards the new, unexpected and most assuredly _deadly_ threat, leaving the weary villagers entirely alone. Those undead already too caught up to notice were quickly dealt with by the strangely refreshed villagers, the unexpected reinforcements and strange bolstering energy that had washed over them with the earlier horn call giving them all they needed to continue.

It took a couple of seconds for the villagers to realize their unexpected reprieve, and when they did they almost couldn't believe it.

But it didn't take long to grasp and the massive, heartfelt cheer that rose from the surviving men was nearly deafening.

So caught up, they didn't notice the small figure in ornate robes wander into their group until she spoke.

"Excuse me, who is in charge here?"

Every eye in the group turned towards Nami as she stood in their middle, unconcerned by the gratuitous violence happening only a few metres away from them. She didn't even flinch when a severed arm landed next to her.

(Something that could not be said about some of the men looking at her)

"What… What the hell are you doing out here lass!" Murdock gasped. "Get back inside with the rest!"

"I beg your pardon I- Oh. It's going to be like that is it." She sighed, realizing half way through what was going on. "Let me just get this out of the way, I am a Gnome, not a child and I will not be treated like one." Nami instructed.

But the men didn't see that. They saw a child in an active battlefield and didn't listen. One immediately tried to pick her up so as to hustle her into the Chantry.

Tried being the keyword. A quick whap to the knee with a staff discouraged that handily, sending him sprawling. "I said, I'm not a child!"

"Yea right. Get back inside, right now!" Murdock commanded.

Nami sighed. This was going nowhere. Drastic measures would have to be taken.

She simply lifted a hand and pointed it at a group of undead currently trying (and failing) to rip Lanaura to shreds.

From her outstretched palm burst a fireball the size of a beach ball, which rocketed past the stunned or diving for cover villagers and burst apart on impact, vaporising the undead it hit from the waist up.

Lanaura, utterly unprepared for this, still managed to get her shield between the fire and herself letting it splash harmlessly across the enchanted metal.

That didn't mean she let it slide. A hoof slammed into the ground, knocking the undead in front of her off their feet, giving her the room to turn back and point her sword angrily at her tiny leader.

"_Edos-! _Nami! _Te kanno ecto'edos!"_ She spat.

"Ah, _thuma. Efta ochtethi!_" Nami shouted back. "You're fine!"

"It's the principle of the thing!" Lanaura began, before having to take a moment to deal with the few remaining undead around her. "Heat is bad for my _hair_ Nami! My _hair!_ Some people actually _care_ about theirs!"

"Oh shut up!" Nami shouted back, fortunate that the hood of her robes hid the slight colouring of her cheeks. "And get back to work!"

"Just for the record, I'm doing this because I want to. Not because you told me to!" Lanaura decreed, before merrily turning back to slaughtering everything in front of her.

"Yea you do that… Stupid space goat why do I even keep you around…" Nami muttered to herself, before turning back to the now thoroughly confused and _not frightened at all thank you very much_ villagers.

"Right. As I was saying, who's in charge here?"

* * *

There were many things an exhausted Bann Teagan was expecting out of that night. Not living through it? That was unfortunately the most likely one.

Being saved by an outside group of generous warriors? That had been what Teagan had been hoping for the most, unlikely as he had thought it to be.

Being saved by an outside group of warriors from another planet? Hadn't past Teagan's mind funnily enough.

When Murdock had pounded on the door and shouted to be let in, Teagan had expected the worst. It was the worst case scenario. The surviving men would fall back into the Chantry and make their last stand there.

So imagine his surprise when the door was inched open to a courtyard clear of undead, and Murdock simply poking his head through the gap. He looked shaken, more than the last few days. Almost like he'd seen a ghost.

"Mi'lord? We… We need you out here. You're not going to believe this." He informed him shakily, before retreating back outside.

Incredibly confused and a little frightened, he informed the two women on the door to shut it behind him and followed the man outdoors.

Into what he first though was a strange delusion brought on by several days of not sleeping properly, if at all.

The poorly armed and armored men of the village were doing… nothing. They were just milling about around the door looking lost.

But more important was what he did not see. That being any moving undead at all.

Oh corpses were there of course, _lots_ of them. Littering the ground of the square willy-nilly like a tornado had come through and somehow managed to burn, decapitate, slash and destroy them all at the same time.

An apt description for the Winter Guard if there ever was one.

The sounds of combat still echoed from further past the buildings and out of sight, in the direction of the lake's edge. Unnatural and heartening all at the same time.

"By the Maker… What happened?" He whispered.

"You got lucky."

Teagan nearly leapt a metre in the air as a voice from beside him suddenly spoke up. Trying desperately to still his rapidly beating heart, he turned his head to find…

A thrown back hood, a pair of bright purple eyes, blue hair in a tight braid and a polite smile looking up at him, all attached to a… small woman? Whatever they were, the most assuredly weren't a human child.

"Greetings and Salutations. My name is Nami Brightsproket, Alliance ambassador and Gnome. You are the local lord, correct?"

"For the moment." Teagan replied, too shocked and confused to question what was going on. "My name is Teagan Guerrin, Bann of Rainesfere."

"Rainesfere? I thought this was Redcliffe?" Nami commented.

"It is. But the Arl is… indisposed. If he is even still alive. I was here visiting him when all… this started. I've just been doing my best to keep these men and women safe."

"A noble sentiment, at least. But not to the extent of actually using that sword on your back?" Nami commented dryly.

"I'll not have you disrespecting the Bann." Murdock interrupted from where he'd been shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation. "We didn't let him fight. He's too important to risk."

"Thank you Murdock, but you don't need to defend me." Teagan said. "Go inside, have a drink of water. You've earned it. Tell a couple of the older lads to bring the barrel out here for the rest as well."

Murdock was clearly conflicted, but acquiesced after a brief moment. "Aye m'lord. As you wish." He said reluctantly, before hurrying off.

"Now, my lady… Brightsproket was it? I assume you, and the _lack_ of corpses trying to eat me are the reason I'm out here?"

"That's correct. My companions and I are here with a larger group of travellers. You got lucky in that we happened to arrive when we did. I doubt you would have survived the night."

Teagan nodded. He'd honestly thought the same. "And for that you have my deepest gratitude. But I don't see any companions, where are they?"

Nami laughed. "They're down by the lakeside by now. Didn't take long for them to rout the creatures. Our handiwork speaks for itself I think." She said, gesturing to the massive amount of corpses littering the square.

"That it does. I can hardly believe it. But you asked for me for a reason I take it?" Teagan asked.

"That's correct. If my companions and I are going to fix your problem, I'm going to know what exactly happened here."

Teagan sighed, suddenly feeling the weight of the past few days all at once. "Of course. I'd say all this began some time ago now, when the Arl fell ill…"

* * *

By the time Lanaura and Trixie wandered back into town square Nami was wrapping up her conversation with Teagan.

"Boss! We're done."

Both Teagan and Nami turned to the unexpected hail as the two Azerothians reached them. Teagan actually flinched, taking a very noticeable step backwards from not the massive seven-foot space goat but from the far smaller woman next to her. Something about her set his teeth on edge.

"No need to worry." Nami said soothingly. "These are my companions. My second Lanaura the Astral Walker and Trixie of the Ashen Verdict." She said, gesturing to both in turn. "But what did you mean by done?" She asked, turning to the two.

"We're done." Trixie said with a shrug, ignoring Teagan flinching again. "Thinned out the ones on the beach. More are popping up but…"

A booming laugh followed by an especially loud thud echoed up from the water's edge.

"We left Gnags to deal with it. He's having fun." She finished.

"Excellent work. Lanaura, go grab Kallian and Alistair. They'll need to hear what I've got in mind. We might be able to finish this charade on our terms."

Lanaura nodded, turning away and starting her run up the Cliffside paths.

"You have a plan Captain?" Trixie asked.

The smaller woman nodded, before sighing heavily. "And I'm pretty sure Lan and Gnags are going to love it, unfortunately."

* * *

By the time Lan reached the windmill battlefield the tide had turned dramatically in the favour of our heroes. The flow of undead had slowed to a trickle, which were more than handled by the still fresh Warden party. The Knights were resting back by the windmill as she approached, taking a much deserved drink of water and being attended to by the party's resident healer.

Wynne spotted Lan as she trotted up the path, waving her over when she did.

"Lanaura, good to see you. This is Ser Perth and his men. Local knights." She introduced the man she was working on, a rather deep cut in his shoulder. "Ser Perth, this is Lanaura, one of our companions."

"In that case, hail friend. I have to say, we were pretty glad to see you." Perth said with a wry grin.

"Hah, yea I bet. Really pulled your butts out the fire huh?" Lan said.

"Couldn't be more true. But tell me please, what's going on in the town?" He asked.

"Right now, not a lot." Lan summed up. "My friends and I cleared out the undead easy as pie. I've just been sent to fetch a couple people and head back down. I recon we're gonna be deciding on what to do next."

"Do? What do you mean? Aside from hold the line what can we do?" Perth asked.

Lanaura laughed, suddenly and loudly. "You'd be surprised!" She said. "But I gotta go for now. _Arkan evolgos'Sha edos, polemi'eros._" She said with a wave, before trotting off towards where the fighting was going on.

Perth looked in askance at the woman tending to his wounds. "I'm sorry, but do you know what she just said?"

Wynne sighed. "I have no idea."

* * *

Lanaura's sudden arrival on the battlefield didn't go unnoticed for long. It's pretty hard to miss seven feet of charging Draenai when it suddenly slams into the thing next to you.

"Evening everybody!" She said lively as she bull-rushed an Undead trying to take Tia's head off. "Are we having fun? I am!"

"Lan? When did you get here?" Alistair asked as he fended off a grabbing arm with his shield.

"Just now, not here for long. Just here to grab you and Kali for a bit. Boss needs to see ya."

The incredulous look on Alistair's face answered for him, not that that stopped him opening his mouth. "We're a little busy at the moment if you hadn't figured that out!" He said sarcastically, giving a particularly rough shove to his assailant before shoving his fancy sword in its gut.

"The rest can handle this mob easy enough, especially when those lazy buggers get back on their feet." She jerked a thumb at the Redcliffe men. "But seriously, boss has a plan to stop this early."

Alistair looked uneasy, glancing at Kallian. Both shared a look before Kallian nodded. "Fine. Let's see what she has to say."

* * *

As Lanaura, now flanked on either side by Grey Wardens, trotted back into the town square Nami and Trixie were off to one side quietly talking and Bann Teagan was overseeing the town militiamen piling bodies off to one side. An _impressive_ amount of bodies, a fact that did not escape the notice of Kallian and Alistair.

As the mound of generally dismembered bodies came into view Alistair whistled lowly. "Was that you?" He asked.

"Not just me but yea, pretty much." Lan replied with a shrug. "They went down pretty easy."

Alistair just shook his head. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me…"

Lan ignored him, instead choosing to wave at Nami. "Boss! We're back!"

Nami and Trixie immediately broke off their conversation and moved to meet them. Bann Teagan did the same.

He did manage to find a place to stand as far away from Trixie as possible however.

"Good. What's the situation on the cliffs?" Nami asked of Kallian.

"Holding on." Kallian replied, face grim. "The Knights were about to fold when we arrived, but they're fine. The remaining men are having Wynne look over them right now. We broke the back of the major attack when we arrived, it's just dealing with clean-up right now and steady smaller streams of reinforcements."

"There will be more. They always send a much larger force later on, near dawn." Teagan cut in.

"Well, we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen then." Nami said decisively. Ignoring sudden shocked and questioning glances she continued on. "Bann Teagan, these are two more of our companions."

"We've met before actually, Bann Teagan." Alistair cut in with a smile. "Except I was a lot younger then and covered in mud."

"Covered in mud? Wait, Alistair? Is that you?" Teagan asked, examining Alistair again. "Maker, it is! You sure picked a fine time to come home didn't you?" He asked with a sad smile.

"You can say that again. I'm glad we arrived when we did, but I'm afraid there's a pretty good reason I came back." He said grimly.

"You needed the Arl's help for the Grey Wardens." Teagan summed up.

Completely thrown off, Alistair blinked in surprise. "Uh, yea. Pretty much actually. And here I was trying to be all dramatic." He said.

"Alistair." Kallian muttered warningly, shooting a glare at the much larger man.

"Sorry, sorry!" Alistair said, hands raised. "All joking aside, yes that's right. I assume you were told that I joined the Wardens?"

Teagan nodded. "Yes, Eamon mentioned it to me the last time we spoke."

"Good. Well in that case let me introduce my fellow Grey Wardens, Kallian Tabris and Lanaura. He said, indicating the two in turn. Kallian nodded coolly and Lan simply waved. "One more, Elsa Amell, is still fighting at the windmill."

It was at this point that Gnags wandered back into the torchlight, hammer resting on one shoulder, stomping angrily and shaking his head. He started over to them when he caught sight of the large group, pulling his helm off as he reached them.

"Bloody things stopped coming." He summed up, directly to the smallest member of the huddled group.

"Well that's a relief. A battle on only one front is better than two I suppose." Teagan sighed. "Hail dwarf, I we haven't been introduced. I'm Bann Teagan." He said amicably.

"Don't care." Gnags dismissed gruffly after looking the man over, ignoring Teagan and Alistair's shocked faces. "I'm gonna go join the fighting up top. Can't stand being so close to these things without killing 'em" He said to Nami with disgust.

"No, you're not I need you here." Nami commanded making it very clear that there was to be no argument.

"But Commander…" Gnags tried regardless.

"I said no." Nami reinforced. "You'll have your chance to butcher undead later. Besides, I've got a plan you're just gonna love." She said, a dark grin spreading across her face.

Gnags clearly _did not like_ what he'd just been told to do, but with a conflicted groan he resigned himself to the fact he wasn't going anywhere soon. He let his hammer drop to the ground and used it as a post to lean on. "Fine. What ya got in mind." He asked.

"Hold on, you can't treat the Bann like that!" Alistair cut in, scandalized.

"I'll do what I want lad." Gnags dismissed just as easily, before turning his attention on Teagan. "What are you still doing here? Bugger off. The fighters are trying to do their jobs."

"Gnags!" Nami shouted. "He's here because I say he is, now if you don't want to be helping shift dead bodies the rest of the night you'll shut your face and listen! _Am I clear?!"_

Thoroughly chastised, Gnags bowed his head before the tiny woman's fury. "Yes Commander." He grunted.

"Good! In fact, I changed my mind! Go help the men move those corpses until we call for you." Nami ordered.

Gnags wisely chose not to argue with his leader, he chose life thankyouverymuch. "Yes Commander." He said again, before shuffling off to do as instructed.

As he did so, Nami turned to Teagan. "Bann, my apologies for my companion. He will be reprimanded later." She said, her tone carrying a dark promise that had the Azerothians wincing.

"I… Can't say I'm used to that." Teagan replied, looking shell-shocked.

"Once again, the Winter Guard extends its deepest apologies." Namim apologized. "But we need to carry on."

"Yes… of course." Teagan said, before shaking off the last of his surprise. "So, what is this plan of yours?" He asked.

"Yes I'd rather like to know as well." Kallian agreed.

Nami nodded. "It's quite simple really. My working theory is that there is a rather powerful Necromancer or something of the like controlling the undead we've faced so far. The plan? Kill it. Tonight."

The silence around them was _palpable_ for a few seconds as the Thaedasians tried to work out if Nami had indeed said what they thought she just said. When they all came to the conclusion that she in fact had, they all opened their mouths to start shouting.

"Hear me out!" Nami cut them off, their protests dying undignified in their throats. "This whole nightly assault is quite clearly nothing more than a_ game_ to the thing controlling these monsters. It's why it doesn't send its whole force out at once. After all, crushing a few knights and badly equipped militiamen should have been easy. But it's decided to draw this whole affair out, sending sporadic attacks. Why? Because it isn't trying."

The assembled men and women couldn't find any way to argue with that. It made far too much sense.

"That being said, why must we fight this on _its _terms? Why should we play by _its_ rules?" Nami suddenly grinned savagely. "My plan, do what the Frozen Heart do best."

"Break into the bad guy's house…" Lanaura suddenly cut in.

"Kill _every son of a bitch in the building…"_ Trixie followed on, a sardonic smile spreading across her face.

"Then make off with all the good silverware." Lan finished with a savage grin of her own. "Light yes. Let's do it!"

"I would put it more along the lines of 'assault strategic strongholds, assassinate the enemy leadership and confiscate any dangerous magical artifacts', but that's pretty much it." Nami said.

"But we can't just… break in to the castle! It's a _castle! _And one of the best made castles in Fereldan! We can't take it with just the people we have!" Alistair tried to argue, waving his arms frantically around. Surely they would understand the sheer ridiculousness of what they were planning!

Lan clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look. "Ali, you know we can fly right?"

Alistair suddenly froze, turning slowly to look at Lanaura, hands comically raised in front of him. Eventually he slumped. "Right. Of course…" He muttered.

"That was part of my plan actually." Nami said. "But there's more to it. The Bann here has informed me of a small escape tunnel which leads directly into the castle. I say we send two small teams in, from above and below."

"That leaves the town dangerously undefended however, if we commit enough of our people to this attack, which we would have to. Maker knows what's in that castle." Kallian mused. "The thing in charge might just send all its remaining creatures at the town. If we're not there to man the defenses…"

"You bring up a good point." Nami allowed. "But we wouldn't be committing our _entire_ force. Lan?"

Lanaura jumped slightly, not expecting to be addressed. "Yes boss?"

"Pick a member of the other team."

"Snowflake." She said without hesitation.

"Great choice. You two are on defense."

"Ah, crud. Alright, will do boss." Lan said, resigned.

"Hold on a moment!" Teagan cut in, recovering enough to finally catch up with the conversation. "You are telling me _that _is your plan? This is _insane!_"

Kallian just shrugged. "You get used to it." She said coldly, ignoring Nami's questioning look.

"And I can guarantee it will work." Nami added. "The Frozen Heart doesn't fail. _Ever_."

Teagan looked around the group, searching for _something_ and finding only calm determination. Eventually he sagged slightly. "Very well. But Alistair?"

The man in question blinked. "Yes?"

"Please don't die. We're going to need you alive." He said seriously.

"Wait, what does that mean? Kallian asked.

"Yes I'd rather like to know myself." Nami added.

Teagan flinched slightly. "Well… I suppose you wouldn't know. After King Cailan died at Ostagar, Teyrn Logahin has essentially taken over as King. But with you here, alive? This changes everything."

"Wait a moment…" Nami said. "Are you trying to say that Alistair is heir to the throne?"

Teagan blinked owlishly. "Yes."

Every single eye suddenly turned to a _very_ surprised Alistair, all in various shades of shock. "Oh Maker. Thank you _very much_ Teagan, you've been such a help, truly." He muttered.

"Is it true?"

The sudden and pointed question came from Kallian's lips, who was suddenly right in front of her much taller companion. "Is. It. True." She spat, as if the words themselves were poisonous.

Alistair reeled back from his leader's sudden intensity, waving his arms defensively in front of him. "I mean, well its- you know, I…"

Eventually he sagged with a massive sigh, before standing back up straight and looking sheepishly at the assembled group.

"About that…"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_Translations:  
__Edos-! _Nami! _Te kanno ecto'edos! - You-! Nami! I'll kill you!  
__Thuma. Efta ochtethi - Quiet, It's nothing.  
__Arkan evolgos'Sha edos, polemi'eros - May the Light bless you, warrior.__  
_

****Hey everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of Dragons, Wardens and Warriors. I hope it is up to standard. We're actually making plot progress! Amazing.

So the cat is out of the bag. Alistair's heritage is revealed! But how will our brave Kallian take the sudden twist? Not entirely well I imagine. Oh boy.

Right. So i've had some people arguing the relative power levels and OPness (heh) of the WoW characters compared to the DA characters and I think I should weigh in on some context in that regard.

Lanaura and her friends are essentially Mythic/Heroic tier raiders. Her raid team, the Frozen Heart, are basically the best the Alliance has to offer. _Bar none. _Are they OP? Yes. _Very much so_. But that was always the plan. This fic is and always will be pretty rompy and laughs will generally come before seriousness. Sorry if that dissapoints anybody. The Frozen Heart and the Winter Guard, the guild the team belongs to, will be expanded upon in future chapters, so stay tuned to that if it's gotten confusing.

I will say this for the DA characters, yes. They are _incredibly_ deadly by the end of DA:O. Some of the best in the world. They're well on their way to that. That's not in doubt. But where they are _right now_, they have a long way to go until they become the unstoppable bad-asses they become. That will of course be helped on the way, now that they're getting training from such ungodly powerful fighters.

With maybe some... unexpected side effects of certain characters being exposed to Azerothian ideas and ideologies... The Church of the Light for example... Heheh.

And I need to point out, that this chapter is the _very first_ we've seen most of the cast actually fight properly. Aside from chapter 1, they haven't needed to. I hope this chapter helps alleviate the idea that they're weak, because they most certainly _are not_.

Sorry to cockblock you all once again with the Trixie reveal, but I needed to cut this chapter off somewhere and this was the most reasonable point going forward. I swear it's gonna happen guys! Promise!

Next chapter: Internal conflict, the Battle of Redcliffe Castle, a sad reunion, uncomfortable revelations and some _highly_ unwelcome news.

Please, Read and Review! Make a girl happy, please?

Love you all,

Fractal.


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